Federal Inmate Charged With Stealing $290,000 in Government-Seized Cryptocurrency

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a federal inmate Rossen G. Iossifov has been charged with moving approximately $290,000 in cryptocurrency that had been forfeited to the government following his 2021 fraud conviction. The 53-year-old Bulgarian national allegedly transferred the seized crypto through multiple digital asset exchanges in January 2024 to prevent U.S. authorities from obtaining the funds.

Iossifov was originally sentenced to 111 months in prison in 2021 for his role in a multimillion-dollar online auction fraud scheme and was ordered to forfeit the cryptocurrency involved. He now faces charges of removal of property to prevent seizure and conspiracy to commit money laundering, with a maximum penalty of 25 years if convicted.