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Monero founder Ricardo Spagni arrested on fraud charges

The creator of the confidential Monero cryptocurrency, Ricardo Spagni, was arrested at the request of the South African authorities, accusing him of fraud. The charges are not related to XMR.

According to the judicial
documentSpagni was detained in late July in Nashville, the capital of Tennessee. He was on board a private jet flying to Mexico. Spagni is now in detention without bail.

The arrest was made at the request of the South African government, which is seeking the extradition of Spagni on charges of fraud. These allegations have nothing to do with Monero, but are related to his previous employment as an information technology manager at Cape Cookies.

As an employee of Cape Cookies, Spagni intercepted invoices from another company, Ensync, for information technology goods and services that it supplied to Cape Cookies. According to the prosecution, Spagni deliberately used false information to create fake invoices from Ensync using the details of that company, including VAT number and bank account information. Spagni then raised the prices of the firm’s goods and services, illegally making a profit from this. The South African prosecutor’s office claims that the invoices did not include Ensync’s bank details, but an account belonging to Spagni.

Acting US Attorney Mary Jane Stewart has demanded that the court reject any bail requests from Spagni pending an extradition order to South Africa. Stewart fears that the defendant may flee to avoid responsibility. Given that he has large amounts of cryptocurrencies and watches worth $ 800,000 at his disposal, the risk of escape is very high, Stewart said.

On August 5, a hearing will be held, during which it will be determined whether Spagni will remain in custody pending trial. A former developer could face up to 20 years in prison. Spagni became a member of the cryptocurrency industry in 2011, and in December 2019, he left the position of the lead developer of Monero. Previously, Spagni said that the confidentiality of financial transactions should not be considered a crime.

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