Venezuelan authorities have arrested Rosa María González, a key figure in the collapse of Argentine crypto firm Generación Zoe, nearly four 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, worth roughly $56 million today. According to reports, she had been evading the authorities for years, moving between apartments with private security in Buenos Aires before crossing over into Venezuela.
Her arrest comes almost exactly one year after Leonardo Cositorto, the founder of Generación Zoe, was sentenced Twelve years imprisonment is the maximum sentence.
Generación Zoe promised investors unusually high returns, claiming to use proprietary trading algorithms with so-called “quantum security.” Investigators claim that the company was actually a Ponzi scheme. It paid older investors using funds raised by new participants.
González reportedly introduced Cositorto to the trading algorithms that became the centerpiece of the fraud. She claimed in promotional videos that the trading algorithms would generate returns up to 70% per month.
Consistent crypto crime
After the firm collapsed in the middle of 2022, González reportedly remained active in the crypto world trying to work up some new schemes.
Sources say she attempted to launch A new scheme targeting Argentinean Investors promises 5% monthly return on investments of $1000 or more using crypto transactions via companies supposedly based the United Kingdom.
She is accused of funding former Venezuelan colleagues to find investors and run the new venture. Initial reports indicate that the scheme defrauded at minimum a dozen people, with a total of approximately $300,000.
Extraditing González to Argentina is expected to be difficult. Argentina cut diplomatic ties in 2024 with Venezuela, and there is currently no embassy in Caracas.
Brazil has been handling diplomatic affairs for many years. recently withdrewInterpol officials told local media that sending federal police into Venezuela is not safe, complicating any repatriation. Interpol officials have told the local media sending federal police to Venezuela would not be safe and complicate any repatriation.
Cositorto has called on González to cooperate, expressing hope that her testimony could help recover some of the defrauded funds.
Sources close to the case say González may have been pressured or manipulated into some of the fraudulent activitiesInvestigators continue to focus on her role as a direct perpetrator of scams.
DLNews reporting Background information is provided for this article.
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Source: bitcoinmagazine.com
