The FBI added Ruja Ignatova, known as the “CryptoQueen” (“Queen of Cryptocurrencies”), to its “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list for allegedly leading a “massive fraud scheme that affected millions of investors around the world.”
Ruja Ignatova is 42 years old and was last seen in October 2017 traveling from Sofia, Bulgaria to Athens, Greece. Until this date, he was the head of OneCoin, a company based in Bulgaria.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 (about €96,000) for information leading to his arrest. She is the only woman on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list.
Federal investigators allege the fugitive used a scheme to defraud victims of more than $4 billion.
In 2014, OneCoin began offering cryptocurrency buyers a commission if they sold the e-coin to more people.
But FBI agents say OneCoin is worthless and risk was never protected by the “blockchain” technology used by other cryptocurrencies. It is, in essence, a Ponzi scheme masquerading as a cryptocurrency buying and selling business, according to the FBI.
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent pyramid-type operation that involves promising unusually high profits to investors.
In 2019, Ruzha Ignatova was indicted on eight charges, including bank fraud and securities fraud.
“He took advantage of the frenetic speculation of the early days of cryptocurrency and timed his scheme,” underscores Manhattan federal prosecutor Damian Williams.
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”