Wednesday 29 June 2022 07:09 AM Ex Aussie rich lister Zhenya Tsvetnenko sentenced to eight years in US prison ... trends now
An ex-rich lister will spend the next eight years in jail after his elaborate and global texting scam scheme was busted by cops.
Zhenya Tsvetnenko was sentenced on Wednesday morning to spend almost a decade in a US federal prison after a sensationalised three-year legal battle.
The Russian-born, Perth socialite pleaded guilty to pocketing more than $20million from the plot, that saw hundreds of thousands of Americans being 'auto-subscribed' to a gossip and horoscope service.
It was the biggest text message scam in history before police pounced on the masterminds back in 2015.
Tsvetnenko was arrested at his riverside Perth home in December 2018, under a New York-issued warrant.
He was extradited to the US earlier this year, after fighting extradition for two-and-a-half years, and in February pleaded guilty to taking part in the scam.
His elaborate scheme saw him once be listed as the wealthiest person in Western Australia under 40.
Russian-born Perth millionaire Zhenya Tsvetnenko (above) was sentenced to eight years in a federal US prison for his part in a scam that charged US phone users $9.99 for unsolicited gossip, trivia and horoscope texts
Tsvetnenko (left) became famous in the late 2000s for his extravagant lifestyle, including his $600,000 wedding to his ex-wife Lydia Tsvetnenko (middle) and paid appearance by Snoop Dogg (right) at his 29th birthday party in Hollywood
The US Justice Department found Tsvetnenko, along with Michael Pearse and
