the United States offers 5 million dollars to locate the “cryptoqueen”

The FBI has published a wanted notice against Bulgarian Ruja Ignatova, creator of the cryptocurrency “OneCoin”. The latter turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.

A reward of up to $5 million (4.6 million euros) for anyone who has information leading to the arrest of German “cryptoqueen” of Bulgarian origin Ruja Ignatova, on the run since 2017. Here’s what ‘announced the United States on Wednesday June 26, in a press release published by the FBI.

“She is wanted in the United States and Germany for her participation in one of the biggest global frauds in history,” with the damage estimated at more than $4 billion, declared the American ambassador in Sofia, Kenneth Merten, during a press conference.

Details will be provided “to citizens wishing to provide anonymous information to help us in the investigation”, carried out in collaboration with the Bulgarian authorities, the diplomat said.

Indicted in October 2017, Ruja Ignatova, now 44 years old, went to Athens “to escape arrest”, he recalled. Investigators then lost track of her, and she was placed in 2022 on the list of ten most wanted fugitives by the FBI.

OneCoin, a classic Ponzi scheme

Ruja Ignatova founded the cryptocurrency OneCoin in 2014 in Sofia, Bulgaria, with the intention, from the start, of capturing part of the funds placed on this medium by users, according to the indictment. In fact, once the funds were converted, it was almost impossible to recover them.

The creators of OneCoin offered additional credits to users who recruited others, promoting rapid expansion of the company. Investors from many countries, from China to the United States via Europe and the Middle East, have been defrauded.

Years after the opening of the investigation, Bulgaria will take steps to organize a trial in absentia against the “cryptoqueen”, which will allow the launch of a procedure for confiscation of her property of a value of more than 10 million euros, said Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov.

Ruja Ignatova’s brother, Konstantin Ignatov, who took over as head of the OneCoin platform, was arrested in 2019 in Los Angeles. He pleaded guilty and was released in March 2024. The co-founder of the platform Sebastian Greenwood, extradited by Thailand, was sentenced last year by American justice to a 20-year prison sentence.