In the wake of US authorities bringing OneCoin’s criminal enterprise crashing down, no doubt there are a lot of people out there trying to bury their association.

Since our initial review of OneCoin on September 23rd, 2014, in which we accurately analyzed and concluded OneCoin was a Ponzi scheme, BehindMLM has published no less than two hundred and fifty-seven articles documenting every twist and turn.

Throughout that journey we came across a colorful cast of characters, most of whom have since moved on from OneCoin. Others simply disappeared off the face of the planet.

According to the DOJ, OneCoin was a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of upwards of $4 billion dollars.

Unless you’ve been closely following OneCoin, a perfectly natural response to such a dwarfing figure is, “How the hell did this happen?”

Based on my own research into OneCoin, interactions and perspective over the past four and a half years, I present to you the people who made it possible.

Ruja Ignatova

By her own admission, Ruja Ignatova has done “many bad things in her life, many stupid things”.

Anything Ignatova might have done prior to 2014 however, was no doubt dwarfed by the launch of OneCoin.

Ruja Ignatova was central in the planning and execution of the OneCoin Ponzi scheme.

By 2017 Ignatova was feeling the heat and around the middle of the year, simply disappeared.

US authorities would later reveal Ignatova boarded a flight for Greece in October 2017, never to be heard from again.

Through OneCoin, Ignatova is believed to have enriched herself and her family to the tune of hundreds of million of dollars. Upper estimates pending forensic confirmation might even peg Ignatova’s stash at over a billion.

While we have no idea where Ignatova’s stash is hidden, we can attribute some of it to a Bulgarian property empire, an aborted mansion by the sea and crapload of cosmetic surgery.

For the record we have nothing against cosmetic surgery. But spare a thought for the OneCoin investors whose funds went into that face.

Ignatova’s current status is unknown. She remains a fugitive on the run and wanted by US authorities.

Outside of financial fraud, Ignatova is fondly remembered for her choice of outlandish and often voluptuous frocks.

Konstantin Ignatov

You know that sibling parents always make an older sibling include in their activities?

Yeah…

Now a proven criminal in his own right, Konstantin otherwise worked behind the scenes.

Officially Konstantin was OneCoin’s Head of Administration, later promoted to Supreme Leader… or whatever it is OneCoin was calling its top dog after the failed Arens and Munoz experiments.

In all honesty though management wise Konstantin was shafted. Ruja rode out the golden years and left Konstantin a heap of decomposing scraps.

After travelling around the world for two years making awkward appearances at OneCoin events, Konstantin evidently realized it was time to chase big bucks in the US.

We can only assume Konstantin missed the last time OneCoin ventured into the US, on account of his being too busy taking topless selfies at the local gym.

As part of his plans to re-establish OneCoin in the US, Konstantin organized a promotional event in Las Vegas last week.

After lying to US Border and Customers Protection, Konstantin entered the US and attended scheduled events in Las Vegas.

As Konstantin prepared to leave the US for his native Bulgaria however, he was arrested and is now facing a criminal trial that will likely bring down the entire company and make millions of investors come to terms with billions of dollars in losses, many of whom invested way more than they can afford to lose and are likely facing financial ruin but don’t care because this is all just fake news and OneCoin is totally going to launch DealShaker v69 tomorrow and we’re all just a bunch of bitcoin haterz being paid by George Soros to prop up the archaic financial banking system 666 OneCoin turned the frogs gay do these samsung galaxy buds make my butt look big #MeToo

Phew. Sorry, where was I?

Sebastian Greenwood

After BigCoin collapsed, Sebastian Greenwood joined forces with Ruja Ignatova to launch OneCoin.

Officially Greenwood was Master Distributor, a position he shared with Juha Parhiala.

Unofficially Greenwood was Ignatova’s equal, and co-conspired with her over every painstaking detail of OneCoin’s launch.

Although never confirmed, it is believed that at some point Ignatova and Greenwood were romantically linked.

Over the course of OneCoin, Greenwood went from being a fresh-faced scammer to a tubby lard arse.

This affliction was common with many of the Euro gentlemen OneCoin scammer clique Greenwood associated with. Maybe there’s something in the water in Thailand.

Things began to turn sour for Greenwood in mid 2018, following the seizure of $7.1 million by Chinese authorities.

Greenwood is then believed to have been arrested in Thailand and extradited to the US, either sometime in late 2018 or early 2019.

Greenwood’s current status is unknown, but he is believed to be cooperating with US authorities.

At least for him, I suppose the less time Greenwood with his squishy boyish looks spends in prison the better.

Juha Parhiala

Juha Parhiala was Papa OneCoin to Ruja Ignatova’s Crypto Queen.

This beady eyed albino Shrek from Finland quickly established himself as a visual representation of the money OneCoin was stealing globally.

At the peak of his thievery, Ted Nuyten’s Business For Home was celebrating Parhiala’s monthly theft of over 4 million euros from OneCoin victims.

While Parhiala evidently knew dick about cryptocurrency, he was able to put on a convincing song and dance.

Well he was, until purported health complications saw him have to carry a gaudy skull-capped cane around.

After OneCoin collapsed in early 2017 and following reports of a Thai criminal investigation, Parhiala disappeared.

When he re-emerged in December 2017, it was as the new owner of a girly bar in Cambodia.

Over the past thirteen months Parhiala has rebranded himself as a “network marketing coach”.

His tacky OneCoin branded gold chain has since been rebranded with Solidus Global.

Solidus Global is basically a continuation of OneCoin, with gold the vehicle used instead of cryptocurrency.

Unlike OneCoin, in the six months so since it launched Solidus Global has failed to gain traction (a common theme among the various OneCoin clones launched).

Parhiala is believed to still spend the majority of his time in Asia.

Kari Wahlroos

Kari Wahlroos probably does a truck ton of crack. There, I said it.

Jokes aside, Wahlroos is known for his superhuman enthusiasm on stage.

There’s a fine line between catchy enthusiasm and “should somebody call an ambulance?”, with Wahlroos falling well beyond said line toward the latter.

After a messy breakup with Wellstar, Wahlroos joined OneCoin with much fanfare in 2015.

Ignatova harnessed Wahlroos’ amphetamine fuelled energy, and he was quickly put in charge of global promotion.

If there was a OneCoin event somewhere, Wahlroos would be bouncing off the walls hosting it.

Wahlroos also became known for his love of fast cars. There’s probably a joke about speed in there somewhere but I think I’ve said enough.

After OneCoin collapsed Wahlroos tried desperately for a year to keep the gravy train running.

By December 2017 however the writing was on the wall, and Wahlroos bailed was fired.

Soon enough though he was back on the Ponzi train with DagCoin.

DagCoin – launched by a former OneCoin scammer, is like OneCoin but with a crappier name.

Within DagCoin Wahlroos retained his “eagle” status. A little fatter and a lot more sweatier, Wahlroos flies in and out of Dubai regularly on DagCoin promotional tours.

To Kari Wahlroos’ lawyers, I want to make it crystal meth clear that I don’t believe Wahlroos does or has ever done drugs. I think. Probably.

Fuck, anyone got Kevin Thompson’s number?

Igor Alberts

If I’ve learnt anything about Igor Alberts over the past four and a half years, it’s that he literally has a clown jumpsuit ready to go for any occasion.

Being International Women’s Day and all, I’d like to take this opportunity to shout out Albert’s wife, Andrea Cimbala.

I don’t know if Cimbala is blind, has suffered some horrific trauma, is ignorant or being held hostage, but her relationship to this magnificent beast of a man continues to puzzle.

Alberts competed with Parhiala and Greenwood for the top OneCoin earner spot on BusinessForHome.

He never quite got there though, peaking at only $2.4 million a month in late 2017. Not too shabby considering nobody else was making money in OneCoin after the Jan 2017 collapse.

As with the rest of OneCoin’s top brass, Alberts bailed by the end of year.

In a moment of rare clarity, Alberts lamented on the mistakes he’d made in OneCoin (but not the money he’d stolen).

Alberts then hitched his wagon to Kari Wahlroos and joined DagCoin.

With Cimbala popping out a kid every other year, Alberts continues life with seemingly not a care in the world.

He and Cimbala reside in the Netherlands, in a house that looks like it belongs in a Michael Jackson documentary.

To Igor Alberts’ lawyers, I want to make it known that I am in no way insinuating a comparison between Alberts and anything Michael Jackson may or may not have done.

OK seriously, does anyone have Kevin Thom… No, I’m going to need to call in the big guns here.

Yo, get me Gerry Nehra on the phone.

Frank Ricketts

There’s not much to say about Frank Ricketts, mostly owing to him being a “behind the scenes” guy.

After cashing out his SiteTalk OPN gig for a Black Diamond OneCoin position, Ricketts was instrumental in helping set up OneCoin’s money laundering network.

After Wahlroos’ ousting in late 2017, Ricketts had a brief stint in the spotlight.

He soon developed stage fright though and once again retreated to the shadows.

Sometime in 2018 Ricketts left OneCoin and disappeared altogether.

In August 2018 Ricketts resurfaced as CEO of AuLives, yet another OneCoin Ponzi points clone.

The AuLives website currently has an Alexa rank of 1.6 million and falling. Consequently Frank Ricketts is laying low. Very low.

Given Ricketts probably worked closely with Mark Scott through his IMS Marketing companies, the fallout of OneCoin’s bust is probably going to reach him at some point.

The Steinkeller Brothers

The Steinkeller Brothers were essentially OneCoin’s kingpins in Italy.

Through the brother’s One DreamTeam downline, Ted Nuyten clocked the Steinkellers’ OneCoin earnings at $2.5 million in mid 2017.

And then… they weren’t. Likely having seen the writing on the wall after OneCoin’s January 2017 collapse, the Steinkeller’s sensationally walked away from their golden goose income.

Three months later Italian authorities banned OneCoin for being a pyramid scheme and fined it 2.5 million euros.

The One DreamTeam downline meanwhile was left in the not so capable hands of Staffan Liback.

… How to describe Liback?

Well he’s sort of like Kari Wahlroos, but with only half the crack (god dammit Oz…).

Anyway within a few months either Liback had fucked up the Steinkeller’s One DreamTeam or it collapsed.

About a month ago Liback resurfaced to promote Cloud Horizon, some bullshit discount app pyramid scheme run by, wait for it… Frank Ricketts.

Frankie boy, looking utterly defeated. There he is!

Ted Nuyten

Ted Nuyten and his BusinessForHome website were OneCoin’s go to for online promotion.

Without fail any time news of regulatory significance involving OneCoin broke, trusty Ted would publish a new article about “so and so now stealing this much” from OneCoin investors.

It was almost as if Nuyten had a queue of these articles ready to go at any given time.

In addition to cash for comment, Nuyten also personally featured in OneCoin promotional material:

When Nuyten’s attempts to bury factual coverage of OneCoin’s problems failed, BehindMLM found itself the target of an ongoing campaign of vitriol.

By 2018 however, as it had for everyone else, the OneCoin well ran dry for Nuyten.

Either that or his continued support of OneCoin was starting to affect his cash for comment side hustle.

Whatever the reason, Nuyten’s reporting of OneCoin took on a more critical tone (no more celebrations of blatant theft).

Unfortunately however, this didn’t coincide with a change in attitude.

To this day Nuyten continues to assist in the promotion of OneCoin Ponzi clones.

Trying to quantify how much additional money was lost as a direct result of Nuyten’s promotion of OneCoin is difficult.

Every time Nuyten published a OneCoin fluff piece, within minutes it was being pushed heavily on social media – often times by OneCoin itself.

The worst part of it, at least from my perspective, is that because Nuyten is out there obviously accepting some form of compensation for coverage – his readers think we’re in on it too.

If I had a dagcoin for everytime a OneCoin investor accused me of “writing for bitcoin” (don’t laugh, it happened), I’d have enough to start my own Ponzi shitcoin – with change.

Ken Labine

The voice. No seriously, the voice.

So much so was Ken Labine’s natural speaking voice a problem that, I can’t remember which, he resorted to either digitally dropping it down an octave or forcing himself to speak lower.

How do I know this? Because he told the world in one of videos.

But I digress, who was Ken Labine?

I forget which cartoon it was, but there’s that one with a recurring old lady and yappy chihuahua punchline (Loony Tunes?). If you’ve seen it you know which one I’m talking about.

That pretty much sums up Ken Labine.

Labine practically stalked BehindMLM’s coverage for months.

Any time we published an update on OneCoin’s regulatory problems, Labine’d put out a 6 hour documentary in which he’d rant and rave at the camera about how facts weren’t facts.

That voice…

Over time Labine’s antics found himself an admiring audience within the OneCoin faithful. Mostly people who saw an unstable angry man ranting in OneCoin’s defense, but understood little else.

At his nastiest I’m aware of Labine harassing family members to get the attention of those that ignored him and his abusive YouTube videos.

Initially an amusing novelty, Labine soon wore out his welcome and was largely ignored.

After OneCoin collapsed, Labine spent the rest of 2017 trying to reinvent himself as Canada’s Kari Wahlroos.

When that didn’t work out Labine quietly left OneCoin for DagCoin.

A shadow of his former online self, Labine’s social media profiles have been relatively abandoned since mid 2018.

Personally I like to think Labine found the medication he didn’t know he was looking for. Drugs. I’m talking about drugs.

Look, I’d even be willing to take on Scott Warren at this point. If anyone has a shot at putting together a legal opinion to convince a judge this article isn’t what it appears to be, it’s him.

Muhammad Zafar

Muhammad Zafar is largely responsible for the proliferation of OneCoin throughout Pakistan and the UK’s Muslim community.

On little else than “I look like you and believe in god”, Zafar was able to convince thousands to invest in OneCoin under him.

At his peak, Zafar was raking in just under a million a month.

You know the drill by now though; OneCoin collapsed in early 2017 and sometime later that year, Zafar bailed.

These days Zafar goes by “Dr. Zafar” on Facebook, wherein he’s busy promoting the BitherCash Ponzi scheme…

…to the same community he pitched OneCoin to.

Moyn and Monir Islam

What would you get if put Igor Alberts on a crash diet for a few years and then split him in half?

Moyn and Monir Islam.

The Islam brothers were second fiddle to Muhammad Zafar in spreading OneCoin throughout the UK’s Muslim community.

They were like a trendy alternative to Zafar, with Igor Alberts levels of sweg.

Of course in true millennial style, when OneCoin went tits up the Islam brothers were among the first to bail.

After OneCoin the Islams fled their victims in the UK and relocated to Dubai. From there they went on to promote Wor(l)d International, Omnia Tech and now Melius.

Tom McMurrain

Tom McMurrain is everything Ken Labine wishes he was.

Deep voice, rugged build, a criminal past, time served in prison and… well OK, maybe not everything.

McMurrain emerged as one of OneCoin’s most prominent US promoters, until they pulled the rug out from under him.

Like Labine, McMurrain was known for making aggressive YouTube videos slamming anyone he felt was critical of OneCoin.

Rather than scream at a camera though, McMurrain opted for gradual deception.

A little misdirection here, a small lie there, mm’kay?  A stretching of the truth here, mountains of crypto techno jargon mm’kay? Throw in some red herrings and… before you knew it McMurrain had you convinced up was down, down was up and OneCoin wasn’t a fraudulent investment scheme.

Through VPNs, shell corporations, fraudulently obtained banking channels and who knows what other shady “let’s evade the law” methodologies, McMurrain gave it his best.

OneCoin no longer operating in the US eventually took its toll however, and so he quietly left and went off to launch his own CoinMD Ponzi clone.

Igor Krnic

What Ken Labine and Tom McMurrain were to video, Igor Krnic was to text.

OneCoin affiliates arrested again? Igor Krnic can explain that.

OneCoin lost another bank account? Igor Krnic can explain that.

Too busy trying to find new bagholders to sell your OneCoins to so that you can buy the family house back, to notice that your dog died, your wife  left you and the kids are gone? Igor Krnic can explain that.

Igor Krnic’s resolve to come up with any bullshit to explain away everything and anything OneCoin related earned him the title of Chief Excuses Officer.

Seriously, if anything abnormal happened related to OneCoin; Igor Krnic could explain it.

The tragedy of Krnic’s fictitious explanations however was that there was no shortage of desperate believers.

Even in the wake of Konstantin Ignatov’s arrest and Ruja Ignatova’s indictment, there are still those on Igor Krnic’s forum who think this is just a mild obstacle to overcome.

I’ll just say let everyone remain calm, as we’ve been here before and just like the German investigation we came out good, The haters will keep trying, as long we good, we gonna come out strong again, only problem another couple of months delays.

Having a real blockchain was already proven by the German investigators. USA authorities have been watching Onecoin for a long time now.

I can’t imagine Konstantin would be dumb enough to come to the USA if he was actually doing something illegal.

I hope for my sake and everyone else we come out with a winner here. My mother’s future depends on this.

We definitely put money into packages we could not afford to lose.

Whats required now is an urgent official news from company to clear things up and counter all allegations with facts.

On the plus side Krnic’s forum was a fascinating collective of some of the world’s most gullible idiots. Thanks for the many laughs guys.

Pierre Arens and Pablo Munoz

In an attempt to buy legitimacy, Pierre Arens and Pablo Munoz (below) were OneCoin’s first (and last) “external” hires.

By that I mean they were recruited from outside the MLM underbelly, for the sole purpose of lending OneCoin legal street cred (again, don’t laugh… it happened – twice.).

In both instances, the promotional hype behind both hires lasted longer then Arens’ and Munoz’s actual tenures.

In fact I can categorically state that both came and went from OneCoin, in less time than it’s taken you to read this far down.

Pablo Munoz was announced as CEO in late 2016. After featuring in a few OneLife promotional videos, Munoz was never heard from again.

He was listed as a confirmed speaker at OneCoin’s mid 2017 Macau event, but failed to make an appearance.

Before the dust had settled from Munoz’s hasty departure, Pierre Arens was announced as OneCoin’s new CEO.

Same story. A video here, a video there and by October 2017 Arens was also out.

No explanation has been provided for either CEO’s disappearance. Seriously, neither has been seen or heard from since their respective OneCoin stints.

On that note I feel compelled to requote an excerpt from one of the DOJ’s subpoenaed emails.

Upon receiving lip from OneCoin affiliates regarding OneCoin’s actual value, Konstantin Ignatov warned;

If I see something like this again I will cut the person’s head off publicly.

You know my sister, what happened when somebody messed up what she did.

Now I’m not saying when it became apparent hiring randoms wasn’t going to fix OneCoin’s mounting regulatory problems, that Ruja ordered Konstantin to take Arens and Munoz out back and UFC them six feet under into a Macau ditch… but well, we honestly don’t know.

Remember, these are the same people who unapologetically killed bitcoin. So anything is possible.

Pierre, Pablo, if you’re reading this blink once into the monitor. Send help.

Closing Thoughts

OK so obviously this isn’t meant to be taken too seriously, and by no means is it a comprehensive list of everyone involved in OneCoin.

I’ve probably left some people out that I shouldn’t have, but right now it’s as complete a list of significant OneCoin figures I can remember over the past few years.

What I want to do here is address those that have lost money in OneCoin.

I get that while Ruja Ignatova is out in the wild there’s hope that (insert miracle here) somehow this will play out like a bad dream you’ll wake up from. And if you truly believe that, more power to you.

Take it from me though, the sooner you come to terms with your losses the sooner you can start working to get your life on track. But I’m not here to push you to do anything either way.

What I want to close with is acknowledgement that you’ve been lied to. You were lied to about OneCoin, every step of the way. Everything the you were told the business was doing at any given time, was a lie.

OneCoin was a Ponzi project put together by two then small-time scammers, that on the back of cryptocurrency hype spiraled completely out of control.

I’m beyond presenting you with the evidence to try to convince you one way or another, it is what it is.

Just know that as you were lied to by OneCoin, its executives and top promoters (many of whom are featured above), chances are you were also lied to about BehindMLM and why I do what I do.

On days like today, when push comes to shove, I’m here doing what I always do. Getting you the most accurate MLM news and information I can in a timely manner – and presenting it in an as easy to read format as possible.

For you, and everyone who has lost money in scams before and who will after you, I’ll continue to do what it is I do for as long as I’m able to.

Situations like OneCoin today are precisely why BehindMLM exists. And are truly believe where we shine as a website.

If you want headlines, read any of the dozens of news websites that have, for the first time ever, covered OneCoin today.

If you want an in-depth roadmap of how we got to this point, a roadmap of billions in financial losses if you will, BehindMLM has over two hundred articles on OneCoin in our archives.

To everyone who has been part of the OneCoin journey over the past few years, my sincerest thanks.

Some of you participated in our comments, some of you emailed me with tidbits here and there, some of you left clues elsewhere on the internet for me to find, and some of you all of the above.

For some readers OneCoin was a fleeting affair, glossed over and quickly forgotten about. For others, you’ve been following for years and know just how big of a saga this was to keep track of.

I won’t risk naming you, lest I leave anyone out. But to each and every one of you, no matter how big or small your contribution to the gathering of information, thank you.