One of the Onecoin co-founders, Ruja Ignatova, otherwise known as the ‘Cryptoqueen,’ has been added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on Thursday. In addition to adding the Cryptoqueen to the most wanted list, the FBI is offering a reward of up to $100K for tips that lead to the 42-year-old woman’s arrest.
Onecoin’s Cryptoqueen Is Now on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted List
Ruja Ignatova, well-known for her role in the Onecoin Ponzi scam, is now worth $4 billion. Onecoin was promoted as a crypto-currency with native currency, but it didn’t have a blockchain or any real cryptocurrency assets.
However, Onecoin’s management, recruits, and Ignatova promoted the project as if it was a “bitcoin killer.” From late 2014 to March 2016, Ignatova pitched Onecoin sales and recruited members on a regular basis. During the end of the scheme’s functional state, the company issued a notice that said operations would pause for two weeks. The Onecoin exchange xcoinx was shut down permanently in January 2017 and Ignatova vanished.
Last November, findings that stemmed from a trial against Martin Breidenbach, Ignatova’s German attorney, had shown that the Cryptoqueen allegedly lived a lavish lifestyle and purchased an $18.2 million London penthouse before she fled. In mid-May 2022, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, Europol, added Ignatova to Europe’s Most Wanted Fugitives list.
FBI Special Agent: ‘We Want to Bring Her to Justice’
The FBI also added Cryptoqueen, a U.S.-based Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, to its list on June 30, 2022. The list introduced in March 1950 was created to promote the capture of America’s criminal masterminds. Ignatova is the 11th female to join the FBI’s list over the past 72 years.
“Onecoin claimed to have a private blockchain,” FBI special agent Ronald Shimko explained in a statement on Thursday. “This is in contrast to other virtual currencies, which have a decentralized and public blockchain. In this case, investors were just asked to trust Onecoin.” Shimko added that he hopes Ignatova’s name on the list will bring more attention to the case in order to bolster the Cryptoqueen’s arrest. Shimko concludes the FBI press release:
Many people were left financially devastated around the world by these events. We are determined to find her justice.
Investigators say before the Cryptoqueen fled, she had black hair and brown eyes, but the FBI believes “she could have altered her physical appearance.” The domestic intelligence and security service says Ignatova speaks fluent Bulgarian, German, and English.
“She may be traveling on a fraudulent passport and has known connections to Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, Greece, and the United Arab Emirates,” the FBI’s press release further details. The FBI is asking tipsters to reach out to any local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy to provide information about the Cryptoqueen’s whereabouts.
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Images CreditsShutterstock. Pixabay. Wiki Commons. FBI
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