When we think of criminals on the run, assassins, terrorists, or bank robbers usually come to mind. As times change, there are new ways to get around the law. Ruya Ignatova (42), known as the crypto queenfrom 2022 Tops the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.
Detective agencies offer up to $100,000 in reward for information on the whereabouts of the founder of OneCoincryptocurrency company.
Ruja is believed to have harvested illegally more than 4,000 million dollars and disappeared in 2017. What was the scam that justice is looking for? This is her story.
A child prodigy
Ruja Plamenova Ignatova was born on May 30, 1980 in Rossi, Bulgaria. At the age of 10 he emigrated to Germany with his family, and in that country he spent part of his childhood. Since she was a child she has always liked mathematics, she was even a prodigy in her school in the state of Baden-Württemberg.
After finishing high school, he got a scholarship to study at the University of Oxford. Among his student achievements, in 2005 he received his doctorate in private international law at the University of Konstanz.
Up until then, her life seemed like a professional one. Until in 2014 Ignatova created OneCoin, a cryptocurrency system that, according to the woman, was very profitable in the long run. For the next three years, she traveled the world attending conferences promoting her company as the best of them all.
Ruja was presented as a woman with a glittering resume: Aside from all her degrees as an undergraduate, she had spent time at the respected management consultancy McKinsey and Company. No one suspected what she really was she: a global swindler.
his grand plan
The success of his company was resounding, investors from all over the world wanted to be part of the scheme of the respected and honorable Bulgarian. In OneCoin, between August 2014 and March 2017, second BBCmore than 4,000 million dollars have been invested.
Ignatova has boasted that she is a lawyer, has made sales on television, and has appeared as one of the main promoters of a magazine-sponsored event The Economist. “She IS one of the biggest criminals who is on the loose,” said a reporter some time later.
The scammer’s troubles began in 2016, after the presentation of his brand in London in front of hundreds of investors from all over the world, Ruja spent months traveling the world selling his vision.
Ignatova filled stadiums and attracted many people who believed that investing in her business was profitable. OneCoin was still growing rapidly and she was already starting to spend her new fortune.
He bought multimillion-dollar properties in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, and in the Black Sea resort of Sozopol. In his spare time, he threw parties on his luxury yacht The Davina. At one of the parties in July 2017, the American pop star Bebe Rexha gave a private concert.
OneCoin has promised all its users to exchange the cryptocurrency for cash. That wasn’t the case in early 2017 and investors started to worry. The woman replied that the situation would be resolved and in October of that year a large meeting was called in Lisbon. The day came and Ruja did not appear.
Because of the big scam, United States of America has issued a federal arrest warrant for the “queen of cryptocurrencies” and her partner, Mark Scott, a former corporate lawyer. Scott was found guilty of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. As for Ignatova, she is charged with 8 felonies, including electronic and securities fraud.
Wanted by the FBI and CIA
Today, the FBI is offering up to $100,000 to help locate her, and Europol has promised a reward to anyone who leads to her arrest. The “cryptoqueen” is currently missing. What she does know is that she brought a large sum of money with her, according to the newspaper. Keeper.
The brother of the “cryptoregine”, Konstantin, was arrested in March 2019 after continuing the business left by his sister. That same year, Kostantin pleaded guilty to money laundering and fraud charges, among others.
Many theories and hypotheses have been made about the whereabouts of Ruja: several argue that there are powerful people who protect her in her native Bulgaria, and that she leads an almost normal life due to the various plastic surgeries she has undergone.
Another possible destination for the “queen of crypto” could be London. And others risked that she might be dead, which is still a possibility.
The truth is that the woman was smart, she found an opportunity and took advantage of it, when there was not much information on digital currencies, she managed to make many desperate and greedy people bet on her shell company. By the time these people discovered the scam, she had already fled with all the money.
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.