A glamorous Russian influencer known as the ‘Queen of Crypto’ scammed investors out of £17million while claiming she was helping to fund the Ukrainian army.
Russian authorities claim Valeria Fedyakina, 24, portrayed herself online as a cryptocurrency expert after allegedly building up her millions in just two months from a pyramid scheme targeting four different people.
The pregnant content creator, who went by Bitmama on her social platforms pretended to be a crypto expert with offices across Moscow City, Dubai, Monaco, Serbia and Turkey, CryptoNews reported.
Her alleged victims claimed to have lost staggering sums of money, with one accusing Fedyakina of scamming almost £54million from him.
Cops spent the last year investigating the Crypto Queen after the Kremlin first pointed its finger at her accusing the influencer of running the huge scam to help out Ukraine.
Valeria Fedyakina, 24, portrayed herself online as a cryptocurrency expert before reportedly scamming four people out of £17million
The pregnant content creator, who went by Bitmama on her social platforms pretended to be a crypto expert with offices across Moscow City, Dubai , Monaco, Serbia and Turkey
She is expected to be formally charged next month and faces up to a decade in prison if convicted, reports have claimed
Fedyakina’s lawyers have continued to deny she had any intention on sending the money gained to tyrant Putin’s enemies.
Police say the woman carried out the elaborate scam by convincing investors to transfer their money to Dubai crypto to avoid banking restrictions.
The victims said she then promised them a 1 per cent bonus on the cash they sent her once it had been converted to crypto.
One victim recounted how Fedyakina successfully convinced him to invest millions of dollars into an apparently lucrative oil export scheme, enticing him with promises of tremendous returns within an unrealistically short period of time.
But the huge sums of money quickly disappeared as Fedyakina sent it on to Ukraine’s armed forces to help in their ongoing fight against Russia.
Fedyakina was swiftly tracked down and arrested last year as she tried to flee Russia on a plane to the United Arab Emirates.
She was first arrested in September 2023 on suspicion of running an alleged pyramid scam after victims claimed she conned them out of millions.
Investigators later announced they have only been able to confirm losses totalling £17million.
All of the lost cash came from a combined four victims and took place across less than 60 days in 2023.
After conducting a thorough inquiry, the Investigative Committee of Russia alleged Fedyakina had duped her four victims with guarantees of speedy increases from supposed digital money ventures.
She was first arrested in September 2023 on suspicion of running an alleged pyramid scam after victims claimed she conned them out of million
Fedyakina was forced to return to detention after giving birth to a daughter in a special maternity hospital
‘Fedyakina had a criminal intent to steal money or cryptocurrency by deceiving an indefinite number of people,’ it said.
‘She did so under the guise of investing in her activities in the transportation and purchase and sale of oil, oil products, gold, and other minerals.’
She is expected to be formally charged next month and faces up to a decade in prison if convicted, reports have claimed.
Prosecutors also alleged that not only did Fedyakina facilitate illegal crypto transactions but also orchestrated several sophisticated scams in the digital currency space, targeting both private investors and corporations.
At the time of her arrest, Fedyakina was six months pregnant, but the court decided against handing her a lighter sentence of house arrest.
She was then forced to return to detention after giving birth to a daughter in a special maternity hospital.
After she regained her strength, the Kremlin quickly tossed her back into a hellhole jail.
Fedyakina’s defense denied the claims of fraud and told Russian media she supports the country’s invasion and is ready to donate funds to support Moscow’s military.
If she is released, they say she is happy to donate funds to support Putin in his invasion of Ukraine and claim she is a victim of crypto conspiracy herself.