SA Crypto developer arrested in the United States
South African cryptocurrency Riccardo Spagni, better know in tech world by his alias "Fluffypony", was arrested on July 20 when he was on his way to Mexico from New York . He is currently in custody of the US Marshals service. Spagni is well known for being the former lead maintainer for Monero, a cryptocurrency
SA Crypto Developer arrested in the United States
South African cryptocurrency Riccardo Spagni, better know in tech world by his alias “Fluffypony”, was arrested on July 20 when he was on his way to Mexico from New York . He is currently in custody of the US Marshals service. Spagni is well known for being the former lead maintainer for Monero, a cryptocurrency that is focused on privacy. The charges he is facing in SA are unrelated to the coin.
On Thursday, Spagni retweeted a tweet from his verified account to say that the arrest stems from a “misunderstanding” in the “setting of court dates”. According to US court documents, Spagni is accused of using falsified invoices to defraud his former employer Cape Cookies of R1.4 million between October 2009 and June 2011. He was at the time the group’s IT manager.
The case against Spagni seems to have been opened back in 2012 although the court documents do not state why it took so long to come to trial. It is alleged that initially he pleaded not guilty on fraud charges, he then failed to appear in court. Following his no-show, a warrant was issued for his arrest in late April.
Once it had been confirmed that Spagni had fled to the US, South African authorities approached their US counterparts to ask that he be provisionally arrested ahead of an extradition hearing.
Headed to Mexico on a private jet
Spagni was arrested after the private jet he had chartered in New York made a stop in Nashville, Tennessee to refuel. The jet was scheduled to fly to Los Cabos, Mexico.
According to the court document, Spagni was taken into custody “without incident” when he deplaned.The state is arguing that he be denied bail ahead of an extradition hearing, as he is a flight risk.
“Spagni has a history of failing to appear and evading justice. He failed to appear for trial at the Cape Town Regional Court in the matter underlying the instant request. Further, because he has avoided returning to the relevant court in South Africa, this court has reason to surmise that he will continue trying to evade justice.”
US authorities further state that the fact that Spagni is facing up to 20 years in jail if convicted back in SA has only increased his risk of flight.He is also alleged to have “significant cryptocurrency assets that would enable him to flee”.
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