HashFlare Co-Founders Face Sentencing After Guilty Plea Amid Claims of Fraud and Deportation Orders

Key Points

1. Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin, co-founders of HashFlare, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

2. US prosecutors allege HashFlare operated as a Ponzi scheme, misleading investors about returns.

3. The government is seeking a 10-year prison sentence for both co-founders, arguing the harm to victims is significant.

4. HashFlare returned approximately $400 million in cryptocurrency to users, but prosecutors maintain this does not negate the fraud.

5. Potapenko and Turogin were indicted in October 2022, arrested in Estonia, and extradited to the US in May 2024.