Ruja Ignatova: How ‘Cryptoqueen’ Scammed Investors Out of $4 Billion, Boarded a Flight and Disappeared

Ruja Ignatova, the self-styled ‘Cryptoqueen’ who allegedly led one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency scams, features in the FBI’s most-wanted fugitives for swindling millions of investors of more than $4 billion through her cryptocurrency company.

Her name features among FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives, which include gang leaders and murderers and she is the only woman on that list. The FBI list has 529 fugitives since it was launched in 1950 and Ignatova is one of just 11 women, CNN reported.

The fraud scheme began in 2014 when Ruja Ignatova defrauded billions of dollars from investors globally through OneCoin, a cryptocurrency company she founded.

In June 2016, when cryptocurrency was still an emerging buzzword and investors were scrambling to cash in, Ignatova projected OneCoin as a lucrative rival to Bitcoin in the emerging cryptocurrency market.

“In two years, nobody will speak about Bitcoin anymore,” she said, as investors applauded and cheered.

However, a year and a half later in October 2017, she boarded a plane in Sofia, Bulgaria and vanished. She was never seen since then.

Her disappearance came around a time when the US authorities had filed a sealed indictment and warrant for her arrest.

“On October 25, 2017, Ignatova traveled from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece, and may have travelled elsewhere after that. She may travel on a German passport to the United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, Greece and/or Eastern Europe,” the FBI circular reads.

According to federal prosecutors, Ignatova’s OneCoin is one of the largest international fraud schemes ever perpetrated. Her company operated across the globe and had over three million investors from more than a hundred countries.

The ‘cryptoqueen’ had made inaccurate representations to get huge amounts of funds from investors, as many of them did not completely understand how to invest in cryptocurrency, investigators said.

“In fact, OneCoins were entirely worthless … (Their) lies were designed with one goal, to get everyday people all over the world to part with their hard-earned money,” US Attorney Damian Williams, New York’s top prosecutor, said in a statement.

Ignatova is a German citizen but was born in Bulgaria, where her father was an engineer and her mother was a teacher. According to a report in Outlook, she had a law degree from Oxford University and a stint with consulting firm McKinsey.

Since her disappearance in October 2017, posters with her face has been plastered on the FBI website and across major news outlets. She’s also one of the most wanted fugitives in Europe.

“Ignatova is believed to travel with armed guards and/or associates. Ignatova may have had plastic surgery or otherwise altered her appearance,” a note at the bottom of her FBI wanted poster reads.

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