The U.S. State Department has increased the bounty for information leading to the arrest or conviction of OneCoin founder, Ruja Ignatova, also known as the “Cryptoqueen.” Ignatova disappeared in Athens in 2017, leaving behind a trail of fraud and deception.
The new reward of $5 million, announced under the State Department’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program, is a significant increase from the previous $250,000 offered by the FBI. Ignatova was added to the FBI’s Most Wanted list in 2022, highlighting the severity of the charges against her.
Authorities in Bulgaria have also taken steps to bring Ignatova to justice by announcing her indictment in absentia for her pivotal role in the OneCoin crypto ponzi scheme. The scheme defrauded investors worldwide of an estimated $4 billion between 2014 and its collapse in early 2017.
OneCoin’s fraudulent operations involved a network of promoters who lured investors with promises of returns through tokens that had no real value. Notably, OneCoin was not based on any blockchain technology, and its value was artificially inflated by the generation of new coins by Ignatova and her team.
The State Department has labeled OneCoin as “one of the largest global fraud schemes in history,” underscoring the magnitude of the deception perpetrated by Ignatova and her associates.
Legal Challenges and International Pursuit
In addition to the charges in Bulgaria, Ignatova, a German national, is facing criminal charges in the U.S., Germany, and India. Several of her accomplices have already been convicted and sentenced for their involvement in the scam.
Last year, OneCoin co-founder Karl Greenwood received a 20-year prison sentence and was ordered to forfeit $300 million. Furthermore, two of the project’s lawyers, Irina Dilkinska and Mark Scott, were sentenced to prison terms earlier this year for their roles in facilitating the fraudulent activities.
Despite the legal actions taken against her associates, Ignatova herself remains at large, with her whereabouts unknown since her disappearance in 2017. The FBI has speculated that she may have altered her appearance through plastic surgery and could be using a German passport to evade capture in the Middle East or Eastern Europe.
There have been unverified reports suggesting that Ignatova met a gruesome fate. In 2023, a Bulgarian media outlet alleged that she was murdered and dismembered on a yacht in the Ionian Sea in 2018 at the behest of a Bulgarian drug lord known as “Taki.” However, the veracity of this report remains uncertain.
Conclusion
The pursuit of Ruja Ignatova, the mastermind behind the OneCoin scam, continues to be a high-profile international effort. With multiple countries seeking her extradition and a substantial bounty on her head, the hope of bringing her to justice remains strong. The case serves as a cautionary tale about the risks of fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes and the importance of holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.