Leonardo Cositorto, founder of the collapsed Generation Zoe crypto scheme, recently announced plans to marry a fellow prisoner in Argentina. She faces related charges tied to the alleged Ponzi operation, according to reports from Clarin. Cositorto stated he has known his partner for eight years. He would not reveal her identity, citing "confidence" as the reason.
Cositorto is currently imprisoned and awaiting the resumption of his trial in Goya. Authorities there have charged him with illicit association across ninety-eight distinct cases of fraud. The Goya proceedings are set to continue on February 4th.
A separate criminal case in Cordoba faces procedural hurdles. The Criminal Court of Villa María annulled the first trial against Cositorto last October. This decision stemmed from inconsistencies found in the case's initial instruction. Prosecutor Juliana Companys in Villa María subsequently requested a new oral debate for the primary case, which targets Cositorto as the alleged leader of an illicit association and repeated frauds. This request also extends to twenty-six other alleged accomplices. A decision on Prosecutor Companys' new request remains pending.
Generation Zoe itself operated as a multi-level marketing (MLM) cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme. It launched in 2021, promising high returns to investors. The scheme began to unravel in 2022 when it could no longer honor investor withdrawal requests. Cositorto became the subject of an international manhunt across the Americas. He was ultimately apprehended in the Dominican Republic in April 2022 and extradited back to Argentina to face charges.
Despite his ongoing legal battles, Cositorto maintains an open line of communication with Generation Zoe victims through Zoom "classes." Javier Smaldone, an observer active on Twitter, reported that Cositorto charges attendees $200 for these sessions. Smaldone highlighted that Argentine prisoners are officially prohibited from having access to phones. This raises questions about how Cositorto conducts these paid online meetings from within his detention facility. It appears authorities in Goya have largely overlooked these activities.
The legal status of the Cordoba case, which seeks to bring Cositorto and his co-defendants to a new oral debate, is still awaiting a judicial ruling.