After several decisive steps were taken by BaFin, Germany’s top financial services regulator against OneCoin, more law enforcement agencies have been drafted into the far-reaching crackdown on the scheme.
According to a German local newspaper cited by Coindesk, Criminal Police Office of North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as the city of Bielefeld, have opened new investigations into the activities of OneCoin.
The need for a deeper investigation is really needed given that over EUR360 million has been invested by Germans into the scheme. As at the time, BaFin froze the account of IMS International Marketing Services GmbH, OneCoin’s affiliate in the country, just about EUR29 million was left in the account.
IMS International Marketing Services GmbH was also accused of being a money laundering conduit for the OneCoin. The alleged ring is owned and operated by Steinkeller Brothers with other team members.
The current surge in a global crackdown on OneCoin shows the extent to which the scheme has been underrated. In Africa, pseudo digital currencies such as OneCoin use gimmicks of economic and financial independence to target youths and young adults into believing that they are investing into a genuine digital currency that will appreciate in value to earn them huge returns in the near term.
In Africa, Nigeria and Uganda have banned OneCoin as well as other digital currencies with bogus claims. Other countries across Europe have also taken a stern stand on the scheme. In Asia, India has been the most fierce with several arrests of promoters who sold OneCoin in Mumbai and other Indian cities.
OneCoin is a pseudo-digital currency that sells packages to investors in exchange for OneCoin tokens. It is not openly traded like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Onecoin has not proven that it owns a blockchain, a public ledger that shows all transactions in a digital currency.
