A Perth tech mogul has been jailed in the United States for eight years for a massive text message scam that funded his luxury life. The story of the old rich Zhenya Tsvetnenko, born in Russia, was once the story of the city.
In a few years, Tsvetnenko went from a college dropout without money to a billionaire.
The story of the old Perth rich man, Zhenya Tsvetnenko, was once the conversation in the city. (9 News)
But behind its success was an automatic subscription scam that garnered $ 41 million from U.S. phone customers.
Tsvetnenko, one of the main actors in the fraud, demanded the biggest cut.
His greed funded a high-flying lifestyle mixed with Hollywood royalty.
But even he knew those days were numbered.
The fraudster finally surrendered in January, after more than three years fighting extradition.
U.S. prosecutors said he was “paying a high price for his cell phone scam.”
Tsvetnenko now returns all the stolen money and spends 98 months in a U.S. federal prison.
It remains to be seen whether he will be allowed a transfer to Australia.