$5MN reward offered in the hunt for world's most wanted woman: FBI say 'cryptoqueen' Ruja Ignatova scammed investors out of more than $4bn in 'one of the largest global fraud schemes in history' before disappearing in 2017
A $5million reward has been offered in the hunt for the world's most wanted woman as the FBI say 'cryptoqueen' Ruja Ignatova scammed investors out of more than $4billion in 'one of the largest global fraud schemes in history' before vanishing in 2017.
Today's huge reward offer was authorized by the Secretary under the Department of State's Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program after Bulgaria set out plans to file charges in absentia against the Bulgarian-born entrepreneur.
It will take steps to seize her assets it said were illegally acquired, the chief prosecutor said Tuesday.
US Ambassador to Bulgaria Kenneth Merten, speaking at the same news conference, announced the reward of up to $5million for information leading to Ignatova´s arrest and supporting Bulgarian authorities in apprehending her.
The 43-year-old is accused of defrauding investors out of $4billion by selling fake cryptocurrency called OneCoin, founded in Sofia in 2014.
A $5million reward has been offered in the hunt for the world's most wanted woman, Ruja Ignatova, who scammed investors out of more than $4billion in 'one of the largest global fraud schemes in history'
Ignatova was added to the FBI ´s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List in June 2022 for fraud and money laundering
Her OneCoin cryptocurrency was founded in 2014, on the back of the Bitcoin revolution, and promised investors fortunes
The US agency, which dubbed OneCoin 'one of the largest global fraud schemes in history,' previously offered a $100,000 reward for her capture.
In the first two years, the cryptocurrency-based Ponzi scheme is estimated to have pulled in more than $4 billion from at least 3.5 million victims, authorities said.
'Ignatova is believed to travel with armed guards and/or associates. Ignatova may have had plastic surgery or otherwise altered her appearance,' her FBI wanted poster reads.
The FBI believe the entrepreneur could be using a German passport to travel to countries such as the UAE, Russia, Greece, and Eastern Europe to evade arrest.
Ignatova's whereabouts have been unknown since October 25, 2017, when she traveled from Sofia to Athens via a Ryanair flight after being charged in a New York court and a federal warrant issued for her arrest.
She made the dash after setting up recording devices in her American boyfriend's flat and learning that he was cooperating with the FBI, prosecutors said at the time.
Speculation has swirled that she may have been murdered under orders of the 'Godfather' of the Bulgarian mafia.
Ignatova was added to the FBI´s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List in June 2022 for fraud and money laundering.
At the beginning of the OneCoin story, early investors were attracted to Ignatova's presentation as a glamorous Oxford-graduate who had allegedly spent six years with McKinsey before making the leap into the fledgling world of cryptocurrency.
She was confident, well-dressed and assured her supporters her project, OneCoin, was about to become the next big thing.
Within months, millions of people worldwide had bought into the vision, purchasing packages of a new currency online that they believed would one day change the world.
In these peak years, Ignatova was constantly in the spotlight, showing off her elegant outfits and glam lifestyle.
Ignatova was last seen publicly on October 25, 2017, after arriving in Athens from Bulgaria
Bulgarian-born German entrepreneur Ruja Ignatova poses during a London photoshoot in February 2016, eight months before her disappearance
As her audience grew, she made appearances at huge rallies. OneCoin even had a song referencing 'Ruja's revolution' and she was the celebrated face of a truly global movement.
OneCoin promised to be everything that Bitcoin was becoming. Anyone could buy 'packages' of the currency with real money and watch the value rise and rise.
But there were key differences in the small print that would inevitably deter investors.
When Ignatova missed her meeting in October 2017, she was expected to finally address whether investors would be able to turn their virtual currency into euros.
Concerns were beginning to rise that investors buying 'packages' of the currency online could not exchange it for cash they could spend in shops.
The value of their assets was rising - but there was no way of using it.
Crucially, investors were also slowly becoming aware that OneCoin lacked the safeguards needed to protect its value from manipulation.
Bitcoin was backed up by a blockchain - essentially a ledger keeping a record of transactions and value changes that everybody has access to.
The value could be secured and verified without having to relinquish control to a few greedy individuals.
Revelations that OneCoin was not, in fact, backed up by the blockchain were the first red flag - brought to light in a BBC investigative podcast series by Jamie Bartlett.
Konstantin Ignatov (L) took over from his sister after her disappearance but was soon arrested
When she disappeared a year later, then, it made sense that she ran off with the money. She boarded a plane in Bulgaria with a bodyguard and flew to Athens. The bodyguard returned and she did not.
Soon after, she was charged with securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money-laundering in the US.
But that was not the end of OneCoin. People continued to work the company from offices in Bulgaria and properties belonging to Ignatova found new use.
In the wake of her departure, Konstantin Ignatov - her brother - stepped in to fill the void, according to prosecutors.
Police swept in to arrest Ignatova's cofounder Karl Sebastian Greenwood in 2018, who was sentenced to 20 years in US prison for his role in the scheme.
Cops nabbed Konstantin the following March.
Konstantin - deemed the 'de facto leader' of OneCoin - pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud and one count of money laundering as part of a deal unsealed in New York in late 2019 and spent 34 months behind bars.
