Ruja Ignatova, the 'Crypto Queen' of Onecoin, is among Europe's Most Wanted
Europol Seeks Information on Onecoin Inventor’s Whereabouts
Europol, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, has announced a reward of up to €5,000 ($5,200) for any information leading to the arrest of Ruja Ignatova, who is suspected of masterminding Onecoin, one of the greatest cryptocurrency scams in history.
Ignatova, a doctor of law, is described in the release as the "driving force and intellectual originator of the claimed cryptocurrency Onecoin." Europol states that she is suspected of enticing individuals all around the world to invest in "this absolutely worthless 'currency.'"
The government also notes that the fraud-related losses associated with the Ponzi scheme that have been identified thus far are in the upper double-digit million level, while noting that the total harm produced on a global scale is likely to be in the billions of dollars. Europol clarifies:
The wanted person’s whereabouts have been unknown since 25 October 2017, and she has not appeared in public since this date, neither in connection with OneCoin nor otherwise.
Ignatova has been charged with "fraud, including that impacting the financial interests of the European Communities as defined by the Convention of July 26, 1995." The promised reward is solely for private persons who supply critical information regarding her whereabouts, not for law enforcement personnel pursuing criminal charges.
On the initiative of German law enforcement, the Crypto Queen has been added to Europe's Most Wanted list. The public prosecutor's office in Bielefeld has offered a €5,000 prize, according to a police release in the western German province of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Ruja Ignatova, a Bulgarian-born German national, founded Onecoin in 2014. The project's cryptocurrency was dubbed the "Bitcoin killer" and pushed by Bulgarian offshore companies Onecoin Ltd., based in Dubai, and Onelife Network Ltd., based in Belize. Ignatova and her companion Sebastian Greenwood, who is now imprisoned in the United States, founded both.
Ruja's brother, Konstantin Ignatov, a co-founder of Onecoin, was arrested and accused with financial offences in Los Angeles in 2019. He has subsequently begun collaborating with the case's investigators, testified about Onecoin's ties to organized crime, pled guilty, and requested witness protection.
A lawyer for investors requested Bulgaria to act on the matter in November, stating that the scam was still operating out of the nation. Jonathan Levy accused officials of neglecting to provide justice to the victims in a petition to the Bulgarian ombudsman. He further claimed that the Ignatovs and Onecoin organizations still had property, crypto assets, and fiat monies worth more than €12.5 billion (more than $13 billion).
======
