Last week the firm Phoenix Thoroughbreds was reportedly banned from horse racing in France over the founder’s alleged involvement with the crypto Ponzi scheme Onecoin. Last November, Onecoin cofounder Konstantin Ignatov, the Cryptoqueen’s brother, told New York prosecutors Phoenix Thoroughbreds owner Amer Abdulaziz Salman was one of the “money-cleaners under the guidance of Gilbert Armenta.”
The great Onecoin scandal continues after news.Bitcoin.com recently reported on the unsealed indictment of Gilbert Armenta, an alleged Onecoin co-conspirator. Armenta was allegedly Ruja Ignatova’s (Cryptoqueen) former boyfriend who ostensibly helped Onecoin leaders launder millions of dollars.
Some of the Onecoin funds may have been funneled into the thoroughbred racehorse industry, according to Konstantin Ignatov’s testimony last fall.
Following the unsealed document for Gilbert Armenta and his sentencing date for October 21, 2020, a recent episode of the popular BBC Sounds podcast the “Missing Cryptoqueen” uncovered some interesting findings.
The new episode showed how a Onecoin law firm and reputation management company allegedly got the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to take down a Onecoin warning.
This week all eyes are now on, Amer Abdulaziz Salman, and his racehorse company Phoenix Thoroughbreds. This is due to the fact that last week a number of horse racing news outlets reported on France Galop officials removing two Phoenix Thoroughbreds race entries from the Prix de la Vallee d’Auge at Deauville.
Phoenix Thoroughbreds owner Amer Abdulaziz Salman.
Reportedly the ban is due to allegations concerning the source of Phoenix’s funding. News.Bitcoin.com reported on Salman’s alleged involvement with Onecoin in December 2019.
During the end of 2019 during Konstantin Ignatov’s testimony, Inner City Press investigative journalist Matthew Russell Lee reported on Konstantin Ignatov’s statements under oath. Lee also discussed the ostensible Phoenix Thoroughbreds engagement with Onecoin via statements from the former attorney Mark Scott. The reporter recorded Mark Scott’s post-arrest statements last November.
“All the money that was not invested,” Scott said. “[It] was at the direction of the investors, sent to, umm, another, umm, another financial advisor in Dubai. We have nothing to do anymore… We signed an agreement, the first agreement at the behest of the investors is called Phoenix something Investment Fund, I think just Phoenix.”
Konstantin Ignatov’s statements under oath were also recorded by Lee in a series of tweets on November 6, 2019. Furthermore, Ignatov’s testimony was also published in great detail by the Guardian contributor, Chris Cook, and both accounts involved the Phoenix Thoroughbreds owner Amer Abdulaziz Salman.
Ignatov told the court that Salman was “a key figure in a major money-laundering operation” and he also told a story about Salman buying “racehorses for, like, €25 million.” Thoroughbred racehorses can sell for hundreds of thousands and often millions for top breeds.
News.Bitcoin.com also reported last December that Salman and Phoenix Thoroughbreds categorically denies all of the allegations stemming from Ignatov’s testimony.
“Phoenix Fund Investments LLC categorically denies all allegations made against it, and its owner, Mr. Amer Abdulaziz, in legal proceedings against Onecoin and its conspirators in the U.S.,” the company’s website notes.
However, the racingpost.com author Tom Kerr says Phoenix has a lot of questions to answer. “[Phoenix] never offered an explanation for Ignatov’s comments or directly addressed the €185m that is alleged to have been transferred by a convicted money launderer to Phoenix Fund Investments,” Kerr wrote last Tuesday.
Kerr and the publication racingpost.com say the newsdesk acquired video footage of Phoenix’s ostensible involvement with Onecoin management.
“[Racingpost.com] obtained video and social media evidence that demonstrates Onecoin operated an office in Dubai’s Phoenix Business Center, another company of Abdulaziz’s, over a period from late 2017 to early 2018,” Kerr reports.
What do you think about the Phoenix Thoroughbreds’ alleged involvement with Onecoin funds? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below.
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