Two foreign nationals have been accused of fraudulently using President Donald Trump‘s name and brand to sell a fake legal tender called “Trump Bucks” to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from Americans, especially senior citizens.
Goran Spiridonov, 25, and Kristina Janeva, 39, from North Macedonia have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, each carrying a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), James C. Barnacle, Jr. announced in a press release Wednesday, May 13.
The suspects have also been charged with aggravated identity theft, which carries an additional mandatory two-year consecutive sentence.
📢🚨 SCAM ALERT: “Foreign scammers are using the Trump name to defraud Americans,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “‘Trump Bucks’ has no connection to the President, the campaign, or the Trump Org. This fraud targeted many senior citizens, taking advantage of their support for… pic.twitter.com/saf9d5hQke
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) May 13, 2026
According to the two separate indictments against Spiridonov and Janeva cited in the press release, from around 2023 to the present, the defendants and others based abroad have allegedly ran a “widespread scheme” aimed at defrauding American citizens by claiming that “Trump Bucks” are valuable legal tender affiliated with “President Trump, members of his family, members of the Trump Organization, and members of the Trump administration,” the press release states.
Attorney Clayton said in a statement that the defendants marketed and sold “Trump Bucks” by falsely claiming they were affiliated with funding for Trump’s re-election campaign and other causes connected with his administration.
“This cannot be further from the truth,” Clayton said, adding, “‘Trump Bucks’ has no connection to the President, the campaign, or the Trump Organization. This fraud targets many senior citizens, taking advantage of their support for the President. We commend our FBI partners for detecting and thwarting this scheme.”
Investigators identified senior citizens as the primary targets of the Trump Bucks scheme, prosecutors said. The scam exploited seniors’ trust in the Trump brand, selling them worthless products as if they had real financial value.
According to the news release, those involved in the scheme allegedly sold a range of fraudulent products marketed under the banners “Trump Rebate Banking System” and “TRB.” These products included “Golden Checks,” “Golden Badges,” “Trump Checks,” “Trump Dollars,” “Membership Booklets,” “Golden Trump Checks,” and “Diamond Bucks,” among others.
The defendants allegedly sold these fake tenders through an online marketplace named “Marketplace-1” in the indictments and through encrypted online messaging applications like Telegram.
Additionally, Spiridonov, Janeva, and others allegedly told victims the fake financial products were preloaded with tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. They also falsely claimed the products could be redeemed at any bank, according to the press release.
“These statements are all lies. ‘Trump Bucks’ products are worthless; [they] are not redeemable at any bank,” the press release states.
As part of the scheme, Janeva also marketed and sold fake “Bank of Trump” products to victims, such as a “Ruby Certificate.” She falsely claimed the Trump Organization had issued them.
Similarly, Spiridonov falsely claimed that victims could buy and exchange a “Patriot Eagle” product for $10,000 if and when Trump were reelected.
The SDNY indictment shows federal authorities are treating politically branded elder fraud as a serious enforcement priority.
The case is being handled by the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit in the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas W. Chiuchiolo and Jackie Delligatti are the prosecutors on the case.
