The U.S. government has decided not to appeal the court ruling handed down last August against Estonian crypto millionaires Ivan Turõgin and Sergei Potapenko, meaning the judgment will now take effect.

According to the prosecution, Potapenko and Turõgin created a company operating as a Ponzi scheme that invited people to invest in the HashFlare crypto mining operation. In reality, however, they allegedly did not use the money raised to develop the mining business, instead diverting it for personal use. Prosecutors said they used proceeds from the fraud to purchase real estate and luxury vehicles and to maintain investment and cryptocurrency accounts.

U.S. prosecutors alleged that nearly 390,000 people around the world lost a combined total of almost $300 million in the HashFlare scam. The businessmen and their attorneys, however, maintain that investors did not suffer losses, Eesti Ekspress reported.

"We are pleased to finally consider this case closed. We are grateful to Judge Lasnik who reviewed our case fairly and allowed us to return home immediately after sentencing and to the U.S. prosecutor who recognized the reasonableness of Judge Lasnik's decision and saw no need to continue the dispute," Turõgin and Potapenko said in a joint statement.

A court in Seattle approved the agreement reached between the U.S. Department of Justice and Turõgin and Potapenko last August to resolve the charges against the two men.

Although U.S. prosecutors originally brought 18 charges against the defendants and sought prison sentences of up to 10 years, only one charge ultimately proceeded.

Eesti Ekspress also reported that the businessmen had previously surrendered assets worth $400 million to the U.S. government.

In addition, the court sentenced them to three years of supervised release, 120 hours of community service per year for each man and a $25,000 fine.

Turõgin and Potapenko returned to Estonia after the ruling took effect.

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