Venezuelan authorities have arrested Rosa María González, a key determine within the collapse of Argentine crypto agency Generación Zoe, practically 4 years after the scandal left tens of thousands of investors defrauded.
González, 30, was taken into custody in San Cristóbal, Táchira state, following an Interpol operation.
González is accused of fleeing Argentina with 611 Bitcoin, value roughly $56 million right now. She had spent years evading authorities, reportedly transferring between residences in Buenos Aires with non-public safety earlier than crossing into Venezuela, in response to native reviews.
Her arrest comes nearly precisely one 12 months after Leonardo Cositorto, the founding father of Generación Zoe, was sentenced to 12 years in jail.
Generación Zoe promised traders unusually excessive returns, claiming to make use of proprietary buying and selling algorithms with so-called “quantum safety.” In actuality, investigators say the corporate operated a basic Ponzi scheme, paying older traders with funds from new contributors.
González reportedly launched Cositorto to the buying and selling algorithms that grew to become the centerpiece of the fraud. In promotional movies, she claimed the algorithms may generate month-to-month returns of as much as 70%.
Constant crypto crime
After the agency collapsed in the midst of 2022, González reportedly remained energetic within the crypto world making an attempt to work up some new schemes.
Sources say she attempted to launch a brand new scheme focusing on Argentine traders, promising 5% month-to-month returns on stakes of $1,000 or extra, utilizing crypto transactions by means of firms supposedly primarily based in the UK.
She allegedly funded former associates in Venezuela to recruit traders and handle the brand new venture. Early reviews counsel the plan defrauded a minimum of a dozen people, totaling roughly $300,000.
Extraditing González to Argentina is predicted to be tough. Argentina severed diplomatic ties with Venezuela in 2024, and no embassy at the moment operates in Caracas.
Brazil, which had been managing diplomatic affairs, recently withdrew, leaving no nation answerable for Argentine pursuits. Interpol officers informed native media that sending federal police into Venezuela is just not secure, complicating any repatriation.
Cositorto has known as on González to cooperate, expressing hope that her testimony may assist recuperate a number of the defrauded funds.
Sources near the case say González could have been pressured or manipulated into a number of the fraudulent activities, although investigators stay targeted on her direct position in orchestrating scams.
DLNews reporting supplied background info for this text.
