Bitmama sentenced to seven years in crypto fraud case

The Presnensky District Court of Moscow has sentenced businesswoman Valeria Fedyakina, known under the pseudonym Bitmama, to seven years in prison on charges of large-scale fraud. According to TASS, the prosecution had asked for ten years, but the court limited itself to a lesser term.

Fedyakina was found guilty under part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the case materials, she offered private individuals investments in cryptocurrency with high returns, but actually misappropriated the funds. The total damage, according to the investigation, amounted to about 2.2 billion rubles.

One of the key plaintiffs in the case was Fedyakina’s former business partner Galik Gulakyan. The court decided to seize the defendant’s property for potential damages. Bitmama herself did not admit her guilt.

Fedyakina was detained in Moscow on September 15, 2023. At that time, she was six months pregnant and had a residence permit in the UAE. The court sent her to pre-trial detention center No. 6, where she later gave birth to a child.

According to an investigation by the BitOK analytics service, addresses associated with Fedyakina received assets from at least twenty different sources. Approximately 20% of the funds that passed through her wallets are linked to the Russian crypto exchange Garantex.

The Bitmama case has become one of the largest criminal proceedings in Russia related to cryptocurrencies. The verdict may be appealed in due course.