A woman known as the “Cryptoqueen” who is accused of defrauding investors out of $4bn (£3.3bn) by selling a fake cryptocurrency has been placed on the FBI’s list of its 10 most-wanted fugitives.
The story of Ruja Ignatova became came to prominence in 2019 via the BBC’s The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast, which detailed her alleged role in a crypto scam called OneCoin. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of Bulgarian-born Ignatova, who disappeared in 2017.
The FBI added that Ignatova, a German citizen, was believed to travel with armed guards and may have had cosmetic surgery to alter her appearance.
The 42-year-old was charged in 2019 with eight offences including wire fraud and securities fraud for running the Bulgaria-based OneCoin Ltd as a pyramid scheme. Prosecutors say the company offered commissions for members to entice others to buy a worthless cryptocurrency. Investor losses were more than $4bn.
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“She timed her scheme perfectly, capitalising on the frenzied speculation of the early days of cryptocurrency,” said Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan.
Williams described OneCoin as “one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history”.
Ignatova disappeared in late 2017 after bugging a flat belonging to her American boyfriend and learning he was cooperating with an FBI investigation into OneCoin, Williams said. She…
