Even with the rumours surrounding her death in 2018, Ruja Ignatova, dubbed “Cryptoqueen” is still being hunted by the FBI. The US Department of State announced that the reward for information leading to her arrest has been raised to $5 million, on 26 June 2024.
There has been no official statement from US officials on why the reward has been increased but it is a significant raise from the initial $100,000 bounty in 2018.
The OneCoin Ponzi That Dates Back To 2014
Ruja Ignatova hit the headlines as far back as 2014 with OneCoin. Investors were lured to OneCoin on the promise of it being the next Bitcoin but it quickly turned out to be a ponzi scheme.
‘Cryptoqueen’ was finally added to the FBI’s ‘Ten Most Wanted List’ in June 2022.
Wow, FBI reward for Dr. Ruja boosted to $5 million.
I guess they don't believe she's dead?https://t.co/uZDWlRIMTx
— David Z. Morris, PhD (@davidzmorris) June 26, 2024
Over $4 million was drained from OneCoin over the next few years and in 2017, OneCoin collapsed entirely.
A warrant was issued for the arrest of Ignatova but she went into hiding before authorities could apprehend her.
The FBI tracked her movements, as she went from Sofia, Bulgaria to Athens, Greece. It was also speculated that she may have also traveled on a German passport to the United Arab Emirates or Russia.
The U.S. Department Of Justice (DOJ) officially charged Ignatova on February 6, 2018. She was charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and securities fraud. It wasn’t just the U.S. authorities seeking the whereabouts of the Cryptoqueen. In May 2022, Europol added Ignatova to its Most Wanted List. The law enforcement arm of the E.U. put up a 5,000 Euro reward for information on Ignatova.
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Did The Cryptoqueen Fake Her Own Death?
The search took an interesting turn in February 2023 after Bulgarian investigators declared Ignatova had been murdered in 2018 by a drug kingpin that she had been paying for protection.
The story became almost comical when the police report noted that the individual that reported Igantova’s murder was actually intoxicated at the time.
While some believe that she was murdered, there is a strong feeling that she faked her own death in order to reduce the heat on her from authorities across the globe.
CRYPTO BREAKING NEWS
There's More Evidence 'Cryptoqueen' Was Murdered by Drug Kingpin: BBC. A new episode of the BBC’s The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast suggests previous reports about her murder are true. check us out @ https://t.co/8dh137buUp pic.twitter.com/v96oGJUgv4— InnovatekMobile (@Neome_com) June 3, 2024
While Ignatova is likely still on the run, her partners in the OneCoin scam haven’t fared so well. The other notable individuals have been apprehended by law enforcement, including co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood.
In December 2022, Greenwood pleaded guilty to federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering in connection to the scam. In November 2023, OneCoin’s former head of legal, Irina Dilkinska, also pled guilty to the same charges.
Disclaimer: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.
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