US Law Agencies Arrest Founder of Monero over South Africa’s Allegations of Corporate Fraud

Monero’s founder has been arrested from the soil of the United States of America on the Interpol cooperation request submitted by the Government of South Africa. He is taken into judicial lockup by the US law enforcement agencies from where he will be sent to South Africa for facing the charges of corporate fraud, of which he has been accused of, once his extradition is officially received by the US Court of temporary jurisdiction.

The founder of the virtual currency called “Monero” has been arrested on American soil. Monero Riccardo Spagni, who named his founded crypto after him, was facing allegations of corporate fraud in South Africa. The allegations against him go far back as 2011 and since then according to the South African Government, Spagni has been avoiding the trial.

However, upon his arrest, he claimed that the matter is too old and that the US Government cannot arrest him without proper trial. He admitted though that there were fraud allegations against him in South Africa, however, he denied he was deliberately avoiding a fair trial. Instead, he claimed that he was the one trying to convince the South African Government to resolve the matter once and for all. However, all his efforts failed because the South African Government was not willing to end the matter.

He is now due to face a temporary trial before the US Court of law, primarily the Court of Tennessee. It was reported that the first hearing of Spagni’s US trial will take place on 21st July 2021. The Court filing also claims that huge amounts of funds in crypto are currently in possession of Spagni. The document suggests that Spagni might be utilizing some of these crypto funds to ensure that he flees from the US.

Meanwhile, the South African Government has stated that there is a long history of mutual cooperation and assistance between the two countries. Making the arrest of Spagni shows that the US law enforcement agencies are fulfilling their commitments towards South Africa. It was further suggested by the South African Government that the arrest of Spagni was done on the behest of South Africa. However, the Government will make sure that due process is adopted for extraditing the accused of mega-corporate fraud.

On the other hand, US law enforcement agencies have informed that Spagni will be kept in the judicial lock-up until his US trial ends. In between the trial, the Government will be awaiting a request for extradition coming in from its South African partner. Spagni will be handed over to South African agencies who will make sure that he is granted equal opportunity to defend him.

Spagni was charged with the offense of corporate fraud under the South African laws in 2011. However, since then he has been hiding until recently when he was arrested in the US.