Matthew Miller, the spokesperson of the U.S. State Department, has announced a reward of up to $5 million for any information that would lead to the arrest of German national Ruja Ignatova, who is colloquially known as "Crypto Queen."
This is yet another twist in a years-long saga involving the infamous fraudster behind OneCoin, which is considered to be one of the biggest cryptocurrency scams in history.
Earlier today, he Sofia Globe reported that Bulgaria had laid charges in absentia against Ignatova in order to confiscate her illegally acquired properties.
Alex DovbnyaIn July 2022, Ignatova made it to the FBI's "Most Wanted" list. Back then, the agency promised to pay $100,000 for any information leading to her arrest. It is worth noting that she has also made it onto a similar list published by Europol.
OneCoin emerged back in 2014 when the cryptocurrency industry was still in its infancy. It was offering educational packages about crypto (that ended up being plagiarized) as well as tokens that could be exchanged only on the OneCoin marketplace. Investors were only allowed to sell a limited number of tokens. It kept attracting new victims despite widespread speculation that the project was effectively a pyramid scheme. The marketplace ended up shutting down in early 2017 without any prior warning.
Despite generating nearly $4 billion worth of revenue, the token offered no value to investors, who ended up losing their money. One theory suggests that she might have been murdered by a Bulgarian criminal gang. There is also some speculation that she might have dramatically altered her appearance with cosmetic surgery.
Ignatova, who is an ethnic Bulgarian, used to enjoy substantial popularity, becoming the face of the fraudulent scheme. Back in 2016, she managed to attract thousands of people at London's Wembley Arena. In 2017, she disappeared, with her whereabouts remaining unknown to this day.
Konstantin Ignatov, the brother of the "Crypto Queen," has already spent years behind bars. According to U.S. prosecutors, he became the "de facto leader" of the scam following his sister's disappearance.
Gamza Khanzadaev
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov