Oscar-winner Kate Winslet to star in 'Fake!' — a movie about crypto Ponzi scheme OneCoin
Kate Winslet, the Titanic actress and an Oscar winner, is set to star in and produce "Fake!" — a movie about cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme OneCoin.
Deadline reported the news on Friday, saying that the movie will be written and directed by Scott Z. Burns, who has worked on films such as The Report, a political thriller, and Contagion, a pandemic movie that also starred Winslet.
Fake! is based on the forthcoming book of the same name by Douglas Thompson and Jen McAdam, a victim of the OneCoin scheme. McAdam will executive produce the film.
Movie studio MGM has acquired rights for Fake! for producer Jennifer Todd. Her filmography includes movies such as Alice In Wonderland, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Across the Universe, and Memento, among others.
The OneCoin scheme was launched in 2014 and was promoted as a bitcoin rival by founder Ruja Ignatova. In March 2019, the U.S. Justice Department charged Ignatova and the other leaders behind the scheme with wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering. OneCoin raised an estimated $4 billion worldwide before the scam was shut down in 2017. Ignatova disappeared at the time and hasn't been seen since.
A TV series about OneCoin and Ignatova, based on the BBC podcast "The Missing Cryptoqueen," is also in development.
