Forsage
Summary
Forsage (forsage.io) was a smart-contract-based MLM platform launched in January 2020 on Ethereum, Tron, and Binance Smart Chain that operated as a pyramid and Ponzi scheme, raising approximately $300–340 million from retail investors worldwide. The U.S. SEC filed civil charges against eleven individuals in August 2022, and a federal grand jury in Oregon indicted four founders in February 2023 on conspiracy to commit wire fraud; approximately 88% of participating addresses lost money. As of May 2026, one founder has been extradited and pleaded not guilty while three remain at large.
Connected Entities
1 entities · 10 linked investigations- + 4 more
Timeline(14 events)
2020-01-01
Forsage.io launched by Vladimir Okhotnikov, Olena Oblamska (Lola Ferrari), Mikhail Sergeev, and Sergey Maslakov, initially on the Ethereum blockchain.
SEC Press Release / DOJ Indictment2020-09-17
Philippine SEC issues formal cease-and-desist order against Forsage for illegal solicitation of investments.
CoinGeek2021-03-01
Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance issues a cease-and-desist order against Forsage following complaints from Montana residents.
Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance2021-05-11
Academic preprint 'Forsage: Anatomy of a Smart-Contract Pyramid Scheme' published on arXiv by Kell et al. at Cornell Tech / IC3, providing the first comprehensive on-chain analysis of the scheme.
arXiv2022-06-15
Okhotnikov launches Meta Force, a successor MLM smart contract scheme marketed as a metaverse product.
BehindMLM2022-08-01
U.S. SEC files civil enforcement complaint against eleven individuals (four founders and seven promoters) in the Northern District of Illinois, alleging a $300 million pyramid and Ponzi scheme.
SEC Press Release2022-09-02
Court approves Cheri Beth Bowen's settlement with the SEC; she is the fourth U.S. promoter to settle.
BehindMLM2023-02-22
Federal grand jury in the District of Oregon returns criminal indictment against all four Forsage founders for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, with alleged losses cited at approximately $340 million.
DOJ Press Release2024-03-01
Court in Tbilisi, Georgia sentences Vladimir Okhotnikov in absentia to ten years in prison for laundering approximately $1.1 million in Forsage proceeds through 53 bank accounts.
ICIJ2024-10-01
Okhotnikov relaunches his successor scheme as 'Holiverse' after Meta Force's collapse; the rebranded scheme also fails.
BehindMLM2026-02-01
Thailand's Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau arrests Olena Oblamska (Lola Ferrari) in a raid on a condominium in Phuket.
ICIJ2026-05-11
Olena Oblamska is arraigned in federal court in Portland, Oregon after extradition from Thailand; she pleads not guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Trial scheduled for July 14, 2026.
The BlockDecision Log
- hash: 9sVSeoKmEPADmN9EM779wjGc8o4ufd19TtadcYy5MU8X
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 5/31/2026, 6:20:46 PM
last updated: 5/31/2026, 6:20:51 PM
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