The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has placed the founder of the OneCoin pyramid, Ruja Ignatova, on the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, according to the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Ruja Ignatova, a.k.a. ‘Cryptoqueen’, has been added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for allegedly defrauding investors of more than $4 billion through the OneCoin cryptocurrency company pic.twitter.com/fUL5Dmic46
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) June 30, 2022
According to the statement, Ignatova allegedly defrauded investors of more than $4 billion through the OneCoin cryptocurrency company. Her whereabouts have been unknown since 2017.
“There are so many victims worldwide who have been financially harmed by this. We want to bring her to justice,” the statement said.
The FBI has offered a reward of up to $100,000 for information about the founder of the pyramid. Authorities say Ignatova has ties to Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, Greece and the UAE.
Ruja Ignatova founded the OneCoin pyramid in 2014 together with Sebastian Greenwood.
The project was initially pitched as a high-yield cryptocurrency, with investors earning profits not only from the asset’s growth but also from recruiting new participants.
In November 2019, a United States court for the Southern District of New York found OneCoin lawyer Mark Scott guilty of laundering nearly $400 million. Ignatova was charged in the United States in absentia.
In March 2019, Konstantin Ignatov, the brother of the OneCoin founder, was detained at Los Angeles International Airport. He subsequently pleaded guilty to several counts, facing up to 90 years in prison.
The U.S. government obtained a postponement of sentencing for Ignatova, saying that cooperation with him is not yet finished.
One of the defendants in the investors’ class-action suit against the pyramid’s organizers was Bank of New York Mellon.
In August 2021, Italian authorities charged 14 people, connected with OneCoin, with fraud. According to law enforcement, transactions totaling about €11 million were routed through local banks in support of the pyramid.
In May 2022, Europol included Ruja Ignatova in the list of the most-wanted criminals and offered a reward of up to €5,000 for valuable information about her.
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