Forsage

Forsage launched in January 2020 as a purported "decentralized matrix" DeFi platform on Ethereum, later expanding to Tron and Binance Smart Chain. Investors bought "slots" in Forsage smart contracts, which automatically diverted incoming funds to earlier investors — a coded Ponzi/pyramid. Blockchain analysis cited by prosecutors found over 80% of Ethereum-program investors received less than they put in, and more than half never received a payout. The Philippines SEC issued a cease-and-desist order in September 2020 and Montana's securities regulator followed in March 2021, yet promotion continued.

On August 1, 2022 the US SEC charged 11 individuals — four founders and seven promoters — alleging the scheme raised more than $300 million from millions of retail investors; promoters Samuel Ellis and Sarah Theissen settled civil charges (there have been no criminal guilty pleas by founders). On February 22, 2023 a federal grand jury in the District of Oregon indicted founders Vladimir Okhotnikov, Olena Oblamska ("Lola Ferrari"), Mikhail Sergeev and Sergey Maslakov for conspiracy to commit wire fraud over the ~$340 million scheme — the first US criminal case against a DeFi Ponzi (max 20 years each).

In March 2024 a Tbilisi, Georgia court convicted Okhotnikov in absentia, sentencing him to 10 years for laundering $1.1 million in Forsage proceeds and seizing about $1 million in assets. In February 2026 Thai police arrested Oblamska (a Ukrainian national, per DOJ; the 2023 indictment had described all four as Russian) in Phuket; she was extradited in May 2026, pleaded not guilty in Portland in mid-May 2026, and was detained pending a jury trial continued from July 14 to November 10, 2026 before Judge Karin J. Immergut. Okhotnikov (reportedly in Dubai, now promoting successor projects Meta Force/Holiverse), Sergeev and Maslakov remain at large.

Sources: [DOJ OPA indictment release (Feb 2023)](https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/forsage-founders-indicted-340m-defi-crypto-scheme), [SEC press release 2022-134](https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022-134), [DOJ USAO-OR extradition release (May 2026)](https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/pr/ukrainian-national-extradited-thailand-face-conspiracy-charges), [TRM Labs case spotlight](https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/law-enforcement-spotlight-forsage), [ICIJ Coin Laundry investigation](https://www.icij.org/investigations/coin-laundry/alleged-cryptocurrency-ponzi-scheme-goddess-extradited-from-thailand-to-face-conspiracy-charges-in-us/)

**Official action:** SEC fraud charges Aug 2022 (11 charged); DOJ wire-fraud-conspiracy indictment Feb 2023; Georgian 10-yr conviction in absentia Mar 2024; co-founder Oblamska extradited May 2026, US trial set Nov 10, 2026