Dr Ruja Ignatova, the self-styled ‘cryptoqueen’, who allegedly led one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency scams, is now on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list, the probe agency announced on Thursday (June 30).
Investigators have accused the 42-year-old woman, who was born in Bulgaria, of defrauding victims of more than $4 billion (€3.83 billion) through the OneCoin cryptocurrency company that she founded in 2014
The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of Ignatova, who has been missing since 2017, when US officials first issued a warrant for her arrest.
She is only the 11th woman to be included in the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List in its 72 year history, as reported by Forbes.
‘Old scam with a virtual twist’
Before leading one of the most notorious cryptocurrency scams, Ruja Ignatova had an illustrious resume, with a law degree from Oxford and a stint with McKinsey.
In 2014, she established OneCoin Ltd, and the ‘cryptoqueen’ began to market her currency as a “bitcoin killer.” According to investigators, Ignatova made false representations to receive huge amounts of funds from investors, many of whom did not fully understand how to invest in cryptocurrency. The company operated around the world, and had more than 3 million investors from over a hundred countries. Records that were obtained during the investigation reveal that between the fourth quarter of 2014 and…
