Crypto scam fugitive with $56M in Bitcoin arrested

Rosa María González, key figure in the Generación Zoe crypto scam, was arrested in Venezuela after fleeing with $56M in Bitcoin. Extradition is complicated by diplomatic tensions.

Venezuelan authorities have arrested Rosa María González, a central figure in the Generación Zoe cryptocurrency fraud case that caused losses of over $120 million and impacted tens of thousands of Argentine investors. González was apprehended in San Cristóbal, Táchira state, through an Interpol operation, nearly four years after the scheme's collapse. She is accused of fleeing Argentina with 611 Bitcoin, valued at around $56 million, and reportedly remained active in the crypto sector, allegedly planning new fraudulent ventures. Generación Zoe promised investors unusually high returns, claiming to use proprietary trading algorithms and gold-backed crypto assets. The operation was later revealed as a Ponzi scheme, using new investors’ funds to pay earlier participants, and employed a multi-level marketing structure to expand. Diplomatic tensions between Argentina and Venezuela are complicating González’s extradition.