Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, the Estonian co-founders of the defunct crypto mining firm HashFlare, claim that they have been ordered to to “immediately” leave the U.S. by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), or face law enforcement action—contradicting an earlier court order.
In a letter reviewed by Decrypt and addressed to U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik, attorneys for Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin said that both men received emails from DHS on April 6 saying, “It is time for you to leave the United States.”
That directive directly contradicts a court order requiring them to remain in King County, Washington.
The messages warned they would be “subject to potential law enforcement actions,” including “potential criminal prosecution, civil fines, penalties,” and that “the federal government will find you.”
Although the prosecution team in their case is “working with DHS to resolve the issue” by applying to DHS to extend Potapenko and Turõgin’s parole in the U.S., their lawyers noted that Turõgin received a second message with the same language on April 11.
“Although there is nothing Ivan and Sergei would want more than to immediately go home,” the letter read, “they understood that they are also under Court order to remain in King County.”
Decrypt has reached out to the DHS, and Potapenko and Turõgin’s attorneys, and will update this story should they respond.
Highlighting the “disturbing” nature of the communications, their lawyers said that “recent news” about wrongful deportations added to their fear, likely referencing the mistaken deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was sent to a prison in El Salvador.
“Immigration authorities make mistakes, and individuals who should not be in custody end up in custody, sometimes even deported to places where they should not be deported,” the lawyers said.
The HashFlare case
The defendants were arrested in Tallinn in November 2022, and extradited from Estonia in May 2024, having remained in King County, Washington, under bond conditions set by the court.
In February, they pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, for falsely marketing cloud-based crypto mining contracts through their company, HashFlare, which operated from 2015 to 2019.
The defendants admitted to a second scheme involving a 2017 initial coin offering for a digital bank project called Polybius, which raised $31 million.
“Instead of using the proceeds to create a digital bank,” the FBI said, “Turõgin and Potapenko used a large portion of the proceeds for their own personal benefit.”
As part of the plea deal, the defendants agreed to forfeit approximately $400 million in assets, including real estate, crypto, vehicles, and mining equipment. Sentencing is scheduled for August 14.
The attorneys also indicated in their letter that if the DHS issue is not resolved, they will request a hearing requiring agency counsel to appear.
Potapenko’s lawyer, Mark E. Bini, said Monday his client has followed all conditions of release and is “committed to fully complying.”
Turogin’s counsel, Andrey Spektor, added, “when the Court sees that Ivan caused no financial harm and contributed to breakthroughs in the crypto space,” he hopes the judge, not DHS, will be the one to say it’s time to go home.
