Extradited fugitive and alleged fraudster Riccardo Spagni appeared in the Cape Town Regional Court where he faces about 400 charges related to fraud, uttering and forgery. Picture: Supplied
Cape Town - Extradited fugitive and alleged fraudster Riccardo Spagni appeared in the Cape Town Regional Court yesterday where he faces about 400 charges related to fraud, uttering and forgery.
The matter will continue on Wednesday while Spagni remains in custody.
Spagni got his day in court after being arrested a year ago in Tennessee pursuant to the request for provisional arrest.
The crypto developer, nicknamed FluffyPony, is accused of having defrauded his former place of employment, Cape Cookies, while he was their IT manager between October 2009 and June 2011.
He had allegedly intercepted invoices from another company relating to information technology goods and services it had supplied to Cape Cookies.
Investigation evidence shows that Spagni received R1 453 561.47, or roughly $99 185, as a result of his efforts to “defraud Cape Cookies”. He potentially faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said: “Spagni launched various unsuccessful applications in the (Western Cape High Court) in his efforts to resist his extradition. On the eve of his extradition hearing in the United States of America scheduled for 25 May 2022, he waived his rights and agreed to co-operate with the authorities.”
SAPS had issued a J50 warrant of arrest for Spagni, 38, after he failed to appear twice at the Cape Town Regional Court on fraud charges, which he had pleaded not guilty to, whereafter his trial was to commence.
Spagni maintains his innocence and holds dual citizenship in the US and South Africa. He was arrested in the US on July 21, 2021, on a private charter jet in Tennessee, bound for Mexico.
Cape Times