A Ukrainian national accused of co-founding the Forsage cryptocurrency investment platform was extradited from Thailand last week and pleaded not guilty in federal court in Portland, Oregon, becoming the first of four co-defendants charged in a $340 million Ponzi scheme to face a U.S. courtroom.
Olena Oblamska, 42, also known online as "Lola Ferrari," was arraigned on May 11 on a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to a notice posted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon. A magistrate judge ordered her detained pending a four-day jury trial scheduled to begin July 14.
Oblamska was taken into custody in February when Thailand's Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau raided a condominium in the Chalong subdistrict of Phuket, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported Sunday. Thai officers seized phones, computer equipment, a laptop, an iPad and documents during the arrest. Thai authorities did not name her at the time, and the FBI and DOJ declined to confirm her detention in the months that followed, according to ICIJ.
Oblamska had previously been believed to be hiding in Bali, Indonesia, and was characterized as Russian in earlier filings. She is the first of four Forsage co-defendants to be brought into U.S. custody since a federal grand jury in Oregon indicted the group in February 2023, as The Block previously reported. Co-defendants Vladimir Okhotnikov, Mikhail Sergeev and Sergey Maslakov, all Russian nationals, remain at large.
