“Crypto” is often used in the community as an honorary title. Hester Peirce of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is referred to as Crypto Mom because of her public support for digital assets. Time magazine crowned Vitalik Buterin the Prince of Crypto. When Ruja Ignatova was called “Cryptoqueen” in a podcast in 2019, however, this was meant to be far less flattering.
Ignatova was the creator of OneCoin, an alleged cryptocurrency that turned out to be a pyramid scheme. According to law enforcement officials, their OneCoin Ltd. has defrauded over 3 million investors by more than $ 4 billion since 2014. Her company is accused, among other things, of bribing the presidents of Serbia and Bulgaria.
Now Ignatova can also call herself the “most wanted”. The FBI placed her on its top ten list on Thursday and suspended her up to $100,000 for information leading to her arrest. According to the FBI, Ignatova was last in Athens. That was in 2017.
There will be a press conference today at 11am at 26 Federal Plaza to announce the addition of Ruja Ignatova, a.k.a. ‘Cryptoqueen’, to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for allegedly defrauding investors of more than $4 billion through the OneCoin cryptocurrency company
– U.S. Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) June 30, 2022
Ignatova was also on the list of Europol’s most wanted criminals until recently, but is no longer on it.
Ignatova grew up in Germany and holds a doctorate in economics. At her best, she was known for her elegant clothes and fancy parties. She attracted over 3,000 listeners to the Wembley Arena in London in 2016, although the allegations related to her activities were already widely known at that time.
A class action lawsuit was filed against OneCoin and her brother and colleagues were brought to court. This case has become very famous and notorious all over the world. Kate Winslet is to participate in a film based on the experiences of an OneCoin investor. Variety reports that a three-part documentary about Ignatova is also in the works.
