A Bulgarian woman, dubbed the "Crypto Queen", has been put on Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) 10 most wanted fugitives list on June 30. It is believed that Ruja Ignatova raised billions of dollars in a fraudulent virtual currency ponzi scheme between 2014 and 2016 before disappearing in 2017. As per court documents, investigators have accused the fugitive of using the scheme to defraud people out of more than $4 billion, BBC reported.
The FBI has put a $100,000 reward for Ruja Ignatova, who disappeared in Greece in October 2017. It is believed that she was tipped before the US authorities filed a sealed indictment and warrant for her arrest. Ignatova is the 11th woman to be placed on the top 10 list in FBI's 72-year history.
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According to FBI, on October 25, 2017, Ignatova travelled from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece, and she has not been seen since. After her disappearance, international investigators began to close in on her group.
The 42-year-old, who is also a German citizen, launched OneCoin cryptocurrency, aiming to replace Bitcoin as the world's leading crypto. Tapping a global network to market the coin, OnceCoin offered buyers commission if they sold the currency to more people.
However, as per FBI, OneCoin was worthless and was never safeguarded by the blockchain technology that is generally used for other cryptocurrencies. OneCoin claimed to have a private blockchain which contrasts with other cryptocurrencies that have a decentralized and public blockchain backing them. Thus, the OneCoin scheme was labelled as essentially a ponzi scheme disguised as a cryptocurrency.
In February 2018, Ignatova was indicted on one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and securities fraud.
Several other co-conspirators have also been for OneCoin fraud. This includes Ignatova's brother, Konstantin Ignatov, who took over the business after she disappeared. He was arrested in March 2019 on a wire fraud conspiracy charge for his role in the "international pyramid scheme”. He later pleaded guilty to multiple felonies and is awaiting sentencing.
Another colleague of Ignatova, Attorney Mark Scott was convicted in 2019 for his role in laundering $400 million worth of fraud proceeds on behalf of OneCoin leadership. He is also awaiting sentencing, according to an ABC News report.
First Published: Jul 1, 2022 1:23 PM IST
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