A Moscow court has sentenced Valeria Fedyakina, a self-proclaimed crypto expert, to seven years in prison for orchestrating a pyramid scheme that defrauded investors of $23 million in Bitcoin within 60 days in 2023. Operating under the alias "Bitmama," she falsely claimed to facilitate international money transfers using cryptocurrency to evade Western sanctions. Instead, she siphoned off her clients' funds, leading to one of Russia's largest crypto fraud cases. The court ordered her to pay $23 million in restitution. Fedyakina's operations involved informal dealings in luxury hotels and transferring funds to the UAE through crypto wallets. She was arrested on September 15, 2023, while attempting to flee to the UAE, despite being six months pregnant. Experts note that such disorganized schemes exploit regulatory loopholes, particularly in crypto-friendly jurisdictions like the UAE. This case highlights the increasing use of cryptocurrency in Russia, not only for fraud but also for funding intelligence operations, as revealed by recent investigations. Read more AI-generated news on: https://app.chaingpt.org/news

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