TLDR

  • The U.S. State Department has increased the reward for information on Ruja Ignatova to $5 million.

  • Ignatova, known as the “CryptoQueen,” is wanted for her role in the $4 billion OneCoin fraud scheme.

  • She disappeared in 2017 after being indicted in the U.S. and was last seen in Athens, Greece.

  • OneCoin, founded in 2014, was promoted as a “Bitcoin killer” but was actually a Ponzi scheme.

  • Several of Ignatova’s associates have been convicted and sentenced for their roles in the scheme.

The U.S. State Department has raised the stakes in the hunt for Ruja Ignatova, the elusive founder of the OneCoin cryptocurrency scheme. On June 26, 2024, officials announced a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to Ignatova’s arrest or conviction. This significant increase from the previous $250,000 FBI reward underscores the gravity of the case against the self-styled “CryptoQueen.”

Ignatova, a German national of Bulgarian origin, is wanted for her role in what authorities describe as “one of the largest global fraud schemes in history.”

The OneCoin project, which Ignatova co-founded in 2014, allegedly defrauded investors of more than $4 billion.

OneCoin was marketed as a “Bitcoin killer” and a legitimate cryptocurrency. Ignatova and her associates promoted it through glamorous parties and international events in Dubai, Macao, Singapore, and the UK.

However, according to court documents and investor testimonies, OneCoin was a sophisticated Ponzi scheme. The cryptocurrency reportedly never existed on any real blockchain, and there were no actual mining operations backing it.

The scheme began to unravel in 2017 when Ignatova was indicted by a grand jury in New York. She faced charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Additional charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud were added in a superseding indictment in February 2018.

On October 25, 2017, just two weeks after her initial indictment, Ignatova boarded a flight from Sofia, Bulgaria to Athens, Greece. This was her last known location, and she has not been seen publicly since. The FBI added her to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List in 2022, highlighting the importance of the case.

Speculation about Ignatova’s whereabouts and status has been rife since her disappearance. The FBI has suggested she may have altered her appearance through plastic surgery and could be traveling on a German passport in the United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, Greece, or Eastern Europe.

Some unverified reports even claim she may have been murdered in 2018, though authorities continue to operate under the assumption that she is alive.

While Ignatova remains at large, several of her associates have faced justice. Her brother, Konstantin Ignatov, was arrested in 2019 at Los Angeles International Airport. Karl Sebastian Greenwood, OneCoin’s co-founder, pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court in 2022 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Two lawyers involved in the scheme, Irina Dilkinska and Mark Scott, received prison sentences of four and ten years respectively earlier in 2024.

The increased reward is offered through the U.S. Department of State’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program. This program allows for the protection of informants’ identities if revealing them might put individuals at risk.

The OneCoin case has garnered significant public attention, partly due to the BBC podcast series “The Missing Cryptoqueen,” which first aired in 2019.

The podcast and subsequent book have helped keep the story in the public eye and may have contributed to ongoing efforts to locate Ignatova.

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