Recent efforts by law enforcement officials in Greece to track down Ruja Ignatova – the founder of Onecoin’s notorious pyramid scheme – have failed. An authoritative Greek newspaper reports that investigators were prompted by intelligence suggesting that she might still be in Greece. Also known as ‘Cryptoqueen,’ Ignatova was last seen boarding a plane to Greece several years ago.
Authorities in Athens Try to Find ‘Missing Cryptoqueen’ Who Flew to Greece 5 Years Ago
Greece is the new scene in the ongoing manhunt for Ruja Ingnatiova, who was one of co-founders the highly regarded crypto currency Onecoin. It is thought that she last visited the country before disappearing almost five years ago.
Ignatova, dubbed the ‘Cryptoqueen,’ has been missing since Oct. 25, 2017 when she took a Ryanair flight bound for Athens in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. Interpol, Europol, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), are now looking for her. She is accused of stealing at least $4 million from the investors in the fake crypto project.
According to the Hellenic Police (EL.AS.), sources were cited.Kathimerini, the Italian newspaper, reported that this week, intelligence was received from Greece by authorities. This indicated that Ignatova had been in Greece for meetings and that she could have obtained it locally.
EL.AS. launched a special operation to detain her less than a year ago. To detain her, EL.AS. launched a special operation. The leading Greek newspaper revealed that investigators failed to find the right information and were not able to catch her despite their active efforts.
FBI added Ignatova as one of its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List. They said that Ignatova may have traveled on a false passport.
Kathimerini’s police sources noted that a dozen countries are now working closely to pinpoint her whereabouts, actively exchanging materials related to the case. In fact, law enforcement agencies are intensifying efforts to clamp down on the Cryptoqueen.
Global Hunt for Onecoin Pyramid’s Mastermind Continues
For information that leads to the arrest and conviction of Ruja Ignatova, the FBI will offer $100,000. In mid-May, Ruja Ignatova was also listed by Europol as one of Europe’s most wanted while Interpol has issued a red notice for her accompanied by a monetary reward as well.
Onecoin’s co-founder is now considered one of the world’s most enigmatic fraudsters, the newspaper remarks. Ignatova, 42, was born to Roma parents from Bulgaria. When she was just ten years old her family immigrated to Germany. She became a German citizen.
Ruja received her degree from Oxford University in 2005. She then earned a PhD from Constance University in international private law. While she reportedly worked for the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, her shadowy career began before 2012, when she was convicted for fraud related to the acquisition of a company which went bankrupt and received a 14-month suspended sentence.
After a brief involvement in a multi-level marketing scam called Big Coin the following year, in 2014 Ignatova created the Onecoin pyramid scheme around a supposedly blockchain-based cryptocurrency advertised as “Bitcoin killer,” which lured investors with promises of “financial revolution.” She ran and promoted the project together with her partner Sebastian Greenwood, who is now jailed in the U.S., and her brother Konstantin Ignatov, who sought witness protection after his arrest in LA in 2019.
Do you think law enforcement authorities around the world will eventually locate Onecoin’s Cryptoqueen Ruja Ignatova? Comment below.
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