The United States announced a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the capture of OneCoin founder Ruja Ignatova popularly known as “cryptoqueen.” She is wanted by both the United States and Germany “for her participation in one of the largest global fraud schemes in history,” which resulted in losses exceeding $4 billion for victims, according to US ambassador to Bulgaria Kenneth Merten.
Ambassador Merten stated that the United States will release a statement later on Wednesday detailing how individuals can “anonymously provide tips to assist us in this ongoing investigation.”
Who is Ruja Ignatova?
Ruja Ignatova, aged 44 is a German citizen of Bulgarian origin, who launched a ripoff of bitcoin named ‘BigCoin’ with her friend Sebastian Karl Greenwood . Later, both of them launched another fake cyptocurrency named ‘OneCoin’ in Sofia in 2014 and raised billion of dollars. It was later revealed that she duped investors worldwide of an estimated $4 billion between 2014 and in 2017.
She evaded arrest by fleeing on a flight from Sofia to Athens just two weeks after her indictment in October 2017, and her current location remains unknown. It is believed that she bugged her American boyfriend flat whom she suspected of cooperating with the FBI.
She was later added to the list of the 10 most wanted fugitives by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges of forgery and money laundering in 2022. Some reports also suggests that that she underwent a plastic surgery and frequently changes her appearance.
However, her partner Greenwood was arrested in 2018 in Thailand and later extradited to the US. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and was also ordered to pay back $300 million back to the investors.
Ignatova’s brother Konstantin Ignatov was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in March 2019. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a deal with US authorities and was sentenced to 34 months in jail. He was released in March 2024.
Meanwhile, a recent BBC investigation claims that that a top mafia figure in Bulgaria, Hristoforos Nikos Amanatidis, better known as Taki, who has a El Chapo-like image in his native Bulgaria might have murdered her.
How Ignatova defrauded investors?
Ignatova and her associates tapped the global network to market the fake crypto to friends and family in exchange for their own payouts. Millions of investos infused funds in large amounts before they realised that OneCoin wasn’t a cryptocurrency and was not backed by any secured, independent blockchain-type technology like other crypto currencies.
Meanwhile, the FBI said that when OneCoin users logged in to check their wallets, they’d simply see random numbers on a screen. The US government has termed OneCoin as one of the “biggest fraud schemes” in the global history.
It was a classic Ponzi scheme, in which early investors are encouraged to find others and then paid out by receipts from later investors
Moreover OneCoin’s prices were always rigged as it didn’t have any independent foundation, no technological basis. While Bitcoin had ups and downs, OneCoin rose steadily in ‘value’ from €0.5 in January 2015 to €29.95 in January 2019.
Additionally, the fake crypto never traded on public exchange. Ignatova had created a private exchange named Xcoinx.com for trading, however, it was designed to prevent quick exits. If you owned 1,000 OneCoins, you were allowed to sell a maximum of 15 (1.5%) in a day. Besides, there was no guarantee that your sell order would be executed. Additionally, starting January 2017, Xcoinx was always ‘under maintenance’, so selling became impossible.
Charges in absentia
Bulgaria has announced to prosecute Igantovs in absentia, as announced by chief prosecutor Borislav Sarafov on Wednesday, enabling proceedings to confiscate her property worth over 10 million euros.
Ambassador Merten stated that the United States will release a statement later on Wednesday detailing how individuals can “anonymously provide tips to assist us in this ongoing investigation.”
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Who is Ruja Ignatova?
Ruja Ignatova, aged 44 is a German citizen of Bulgarian origin, who launched a ripoff of bitcoin named ‘BigCoin’ with her friend Sebastian Karl Greenwood . Later, both of them launched another fake cyptocurrency named ‘OneCoin’ in Sofia in 2014 and raised billion of dollars. It was later revealed that she duped investors worldwide of an estimated $4 billion between 2014 and in 2017.
She evaded arrest by fleeing on a flight from Sofia to Athens just two weeks after her indictment in October 2017, and her current location remains unknown. It is believed that she bugged her American boyfriend flat whom she suspected of cooperating with the FBI.
She was later added to the list of the 10 most wanted fugitives by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges of forgery and money laundering in 2022. Some reports also suggests that that she underwent a plastic surgery and frequently changes her appearance.
However, her partner Greenwood was arrested in 2018 in Thailand and later extradited to the US. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and was also ordered to pay back $300 million back to the investors.
Ignatova’s brother Konstantin Ignatov was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in March 2019. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a deal with US authorities and was sentenced to 34 months in jail. He was released in March 2024.
Meanwhile, a recent BBC investigation claims that that a top mafia figure in Bulgaria, Hristoforos Nikos Amanatidis, better known as Taki, who has a El Chapo-like image in his native Bulgaria might have murdered her.
How Ignatova defrauded investors?
Ignatova and her associates tapped the global network to market the fake crypto to friends and family in exchange for their own payouts. Millions of investos infused funds in large amounts before they realised that OneCoin wasn’t a cryptocurrency and was not backed by any secured, independent blockchain-type technology like other crypto currencies.
Meanwhile, the FBI said that when OneCoin users logged in to check their wallets, they’d simply see random numbers on a screen. The US government has termed OneCoin as one of the “biggest fraud schemes” in the global history.
It was a classic Ponzi scheme, in which early investors are encouraged to find others and then paid out by receipts from later investors
Moreover OneCoin’s prices were always rigged as it didn’t have any independent foundation, no technological basis. While Bitcoin had ups and downs, OneCoin rose steadily in ‘value’ from €0.5 in January 2015 to €29.95 in January 2019.
Additionally, the fake crypto never traded on public exchange. Ignatova had created a private exchange named Xcoinx.com for trading, however, it was designed to prevent quick exits. If you owned 1,000 OneCoins, you were allowed to sell a maximum of 15 (1.5%) in a day. Besides, there was no guarantee that your sell order would be executed. Additionally, starting January 2017, Xcoinx was always ‘under maintenance’, so selling became impossible.
Charges in absentia
Bulgaria has announced to prosecute Igantovs in absentia, as announced by chief prosecutor Borislav Sarafov on Wednesday, enabling proceedings to confiscate her property worth over 10 million euros.