U.S. authorities proceed trying to find OneCoin’s elusive founder, Ruja Ignatova, also referred to as “Cryptoqueen,” over a $4 billion Ponzi scheme.
The U.S. State Division has provided as much as $5 million as a reward for data contributing to the apprehension or conviction of Ignatova, who disappeared in 2017.
Ruja Ignatova, aka the Cryptoqueen, has been on the run since authorities found OneCoin was a world fraud operation. Shortly after the U.S. authorities disclosed her indictment in 2018, Ignatova disappeared and boarded a flight sure for Athens.
The brand new reward is a large enhance from $250,000 beforehand provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) round 2022.
The OneCoin Ponzi
Ignatova and a number of other OneCoin accomplices gathered an estimated $4 billion from buyers between 2014 and 2017. Traders had been promised large returns on their capital and tokens in alternate for cash.
Nevertheless, the disgrace challenge didn’t truly exist on any blockchain or decentralized community. The State Division described Ignatova’s marketing campaign as one of many largest world fraud schemes in historical past.
Whereas Ignatova disappeared into the ether, different OneCoin conspirators had been arrested and sentenced. Co-founder Karl Greenwood was issued a 20-year jail time period for fraud, and two legal professionals linked to the challenge had been sentenced to a minimal of 4 years behind bars.
The whereabouts of the Cryptoqueen herself stay unknown to this present day. After fleeing to Athens, authorities and speculators alike have guessed that Ignatova doubtless acquired cosmetic surgery to alter appearances. In 2018, Bulgarian media reported that Ignatova was butchered on a yacht by native crime lord “Taki”. Each assumptions are unverified, and Ignatova is believed to be on the run.
Ignatova faces prices in Bulgaria, Germany, India, and the U.S. for crimes resembling conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit cash laundering and securities fraud. Bulgarian authorities additionally determined to convict Ignatova in absentia for her position within the multi-billion crypto Ponzi scheme.