OneCoin founder Ruja Ignatova, aka “Cryptoqueen”, has now earned a position in the FBI’s top ten most wanted fugitives. Ignatova has reportedly been accused of defrauding investors of more than $4 billion through the OneCoin Ponzi scheme.
Ignatova is best known for her Ponzi scheme, which The Times described as “one of the biggest scams in history”. She has also been the talking subject of a 2019 BBC podcast titled “The Missing Cryptoqueen”.
She created the OnceCoin project, which originated in Bulgaria, and left the organization to disappear in 2017. Federal authorities in Manhattan have charged her with fraud and money laundering in connection with what the government describes as a pyramid scheme.
Ruja Ignatova will be added to the most wanted list ahead of the conference
The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced in a tweet that a news conference will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday where she will be added to the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives. Ignatova will also earn the title of the only woman to make it to the United States list.
Last month, Ignatova was added to the most wanted list by Europol. People were also awarded a $5,200 prize for providing information that could help catch her.
Konstantin Ignatove, the brother of Ruja Ignatova, was also arrested in Los Angeles in March 2019 and pleaded guilty to money laundering and fraud. OneCoin operated as a multi-level marketing network offering commissions to members enticing others to join OneCoin. According to Bloomberg, OneCoin had generated more than $3.78 billion in revenue in the last quarter of 2014 alone.
Since 2017, Ruha Ignatova has been on the run, avoiding the eyes of the authorities. Her whereabouts are still unknown to police.