According to Cointelegraph, two Estonian nationals, Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin, who co-founded the cryptocurrency mining service HashFlare, are set to be sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. This plea deal comes amid a legal battle with U.S. prosecutors, who have contested claims made by the defendants' lawyers in their sentencing recommendations. The co-founders have requested time served, while the U.S. government is pushing for a 10-year prison sentence, arguing that the victims of HashFlare have suffered significant harm.
Prosecutors have criticized the defense's argument that HashFlare's victims did not incur losses, citing an expert opinion and attempts to discredit victim statements. They argue that the expert opinion relies on fabricated data regarding supposed investor earnings, which the defendants admitted to in their plea agreements. The prosecution maintains that the figures provided by Potapenko and Turogin support the victims' claims of financial loss. The U.S. government's sentencing recommendation highlights the fraudulent nature of HashFlare, describing it as a Ponzi scheme.
Potapenko and Turogin have previously claimed in court filings that they returned $400 million in cryptocurrency to users and agreed to forfeit interests in assets frozen by the U.S. government in 2022. However, prosecutors have dismissed these claims as incorrect, emphasizing the fraudulent operations of HashFlare. The co-founders were indicted in October 2022, arrested in Estonia, and extradited to the U.S. in May 2024. They have been free on bail since July 2024 and entered guilty pleas in February 2025.
During the court proceedings, the co-founders received letters from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security instructing them to leave the United States, aligning with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration's efforts for mass deportations. It remains uncertain whether the judge will consider their immigration status during sentencing. Cointelegraph attempted to contact Potapenko's legal counsel for comments on the upcoming sentencing hearing but had not received a response by the time of publication.