Ruja Ignatovaknown as the “crypto queen,” is currently one of the most wanted fugitives in the United States, after having orchestrated a monumental scam of 4.5 billion dollars (equivalent to approximately 18 billion Colombian pesos).
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Originally from Bulgaria but with German nationality, Ignatova is accused of defrauding investors through a fraudulent cryptocurrency called OneCoin.
On Wednesday, US authorities raised the $5 million reward for information on his whereabouts (equivalent to approximately 20 billion Colombian pesos), reflecting the seriousness of the investigations and the gravity of the case.
In addition to the United States, at least two other countries are on the trail of Ignatovahaving initiated investigations and filed formal charges against him.
Ruja Ignatova, aka the cryptoqueen. This name doesn’t tell you anything. She is the most wanted woman by the FBI for 5 years.
He owes nearly $100 billion to his investors (Madoff owed $57).
Here is the story of the scam of the century and a crazy escape.
🧵THREAD🧵 pic.twitter.com/DHPq0K1NPd
— Hermes (@hermescriber) May 28, 2024
Background and the rise of the ‘Crypto Queen’
Raised in Germany, Ruja Ignatova graduated from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and immersed herself in the world of finance.
In 2014, launched OneCoin and attracted numerous investors with the promise of higher returns than Bitcoin. However, the cryptocurrency it promoted lacked digital registration and real backing, making it a scam.
In 2017after an arrest warrant was issued against him in the United States, Ignatova mysteriously disappeared, last seen taking a flight from Sofia to Athens. Since then, her whereabouts remain unknown, and she has become an enigma to authorities who call her the “queen of cryptocurrencies.”
US authorities are ready to pay $5M for information about the founder of OneCoin #Crypto pyramid, Ruja Ignatova
☑️ OneCoin is one of the largest financial pyramid schemes in history, which operated from 2014 to 2017.
☑️ The organizers were able to attract about 3… pic.twitter.com/Y08cWGKiR1
— Feli Cryp (@felixcrypx) June 28, 2024
The Investigations have revealed that Ignatova had connections with Bulgarian organized crime., particularly with an alleged mafia boss involved in his disappearance. A British podcast and documentary have shed light on these connections, suggesting that his disappearance could have been facilitated by these criminal links. Today, Ignatova is among Washington’s ten most wanted fugitivesbeing the only woman on that list.
Luxury life in Dubai and suspicions of murder
Theories regarding Ruja Ignatova’s whereabouts vary widely. According to Richard Reinhardt, lead investigator of the OneCoin case at the US IRS, in collaboration with the FBI, Ignatova would have received protection from Hristoforos Nikos Amanatidis, alias “Taki”, a well-known drug trafficker and boss of the Bulgarian mafia.
Europol documents cited by the BBC suggest that Bulgarian police were already aware of the connection between Ignatova and Taki before her disappearance. It is believed that the “queen of cryptocurrencies” paid Taki around 100 thousand euros per month for his protection.
Some investigators suspect Ignatova is hiding in Dubaiwhere he would have acquired a luxurious penthouse and where banking transactions would have been made in his name from OneCoin.
However, There are also indications that Taki may have ordered his murder.In 2022, investigative site bird.bg obtained a police report mentioning that an informant had heard Taki’s brother-in-law claim that Ignatova was murdered in 2018 and her body dumped in the Ionian Sea.
Dimitar Stoyanov, a Bulgarian journalist, confirmed the authenticity of the report, and Taki’s accomplices claimed that the theory was plausible, as Ignatova had become a threat to the mafia’s business. After the publication of this information, Stoyanov and his team had to leave Bulgaria due to death threats.
FBI $5MN reward offered in the hunt for world’s most wanted woman©Provided by Daily Mail
A $5million reward has been offered in the hunt for the world’s most wanted woman as the FBI says ‘cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova scammed investors out of more than $4billion pic.twitter.com/68GKe2XFUp— Mjovid-19 (@ItsTheeYZee) June 28, 2024
In an effort to capture Ignatova, The United States included it in its list of the 10 most wanted in 2022, initially increasing the reward to $100,000 and then to $250,000. This Wednesday, the reward was increased to $5 million, according to the BBC. This reward is part of the United States Department of State’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program.
“We are offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of German citizen Ruja Ignatova, known as ‘Cryptoqueen,’ for her role in one of the largest global fraud schemes in history,” said Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State.
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*This content was rewritten with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on information from O Globo, and was reviewed by a journalist and an editor.
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