HashFlare co-founders Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin received time served after pleading guilty to their involvement in a $577 million Ponzi scheme. The two were given time served by Seattle Federal Court Judge Robert Lasnik following 16 months in custody. Along with their release, they were fined $25,000 each and must complete 360 hours of community service. Prosecutors are contemplating an appeal after initially seeking a 10-year prison sentence. They argued that this was the largest fraud case the Seattle prosecutors had ever faced. However, the court found that significant losses for the 440,000 customers involved were not evident, as many had withdrawn substantial amounts since the scheme began. Prosecutors described HashFlare as operating a classic Ponzi scheme that misled investors about its mining capabilities. Despite confusion about their deportation status, the founders expressed intentions to return to their home country of Estonia after serving their terms.

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