OneCoin was not backed by any secured, independent blockchain-type technology as other cryptocurrencies are. It was a classic Ponzi scheme, in which early investors are encouraged to find others and then paid out by receipts from later investors. Ignatova disappeared in late 2017.
FBI has placed Ruja Ignatova in its top ten most wanted list. She was behind one of the most notorious scams in the frequently treacherous world of cryptocurrencies. As per information available with the agencies and in the public domain, Ruja Ignatova is a Bulgarian woman who raised billions of dollars in a fraudulent virtual currency scheme.
Dubbed the “crypto queen,” she is placed on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list. The 42-year-old, who is also a German citizen, launched OneCoin in 2014. Tapping a global network to market the coin to friends and family in exchange for their own payouts, she and her coconspirators pulled in at least $3.4 billion and possibly over $4 billion, according to court documents.
OneCoin was not backed by any secured, independent blockchain-type technology as other cryptocurrencies are. It was a classic Ponzi scheme, in which early investors are encouraged to find others and then paid out by receipts from later investors. Ignatova disappeared in late 2017. She bugged an apartment belonging to her American boyfriend and learned that he was cooperating with an FBI probe into OneCoin.
She boarded a flight from Bulgaria to Greece and has not been seen since. Her brother Konstantin Ignatov was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in March 2019. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a deal with US authorities. Europol placed her on its most-wanted list and offered a 5,000-euro award for information that leads to her capture
