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FBI offers reward for the Bulgarian ‘crypto queen’
A woman has been dubbed the ‘crypto queen’ after raising billions of dollars in a fraudulent currency scheme
In 2014, Ruja Ignatova launched ‘OneCoin’ which sought to replace Bitcoin as the world’s top digital currency.
The coin was marketed to friends and family in exchange for their own payouts, which added up to over USD $3 billion.
The entrepreneur had previously told investors she had created the “Bitcoin killer”.
“This network was created to become and to fuel the growth of OneCoin,” she told a packed London event in 2016.
But once the scheme was uncovered, reports emerged the woman had disappeared in Greece. That was five years ago, and she has not been seen since.
The 42-year-old has made it onto the FBI’s top 10 most wanted list, with a USD $100,000 reward on offer.
“She timed her scheme perfectly, capitalising on the frenzied speculation of the early days of cryptocurrency.”
Damian Williams, a U.S. prosecutor
The FBI says Ignatova may have travelled to the United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, or other eastern European nations on a German passport.
“[It’s] one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history,” Williams said.
Her own brother was arrested in Los Angeles two years ago, and later pleaded guilty to wire a fraud in a deal with U.S. authorities.