US offers $5m reward for Bulgarian ‘cryptoqueen’
US offers $5m reward for Bulgarian ‘cryptoqueen’
The United States announced Wednesday a reward of up to $5 million for information that could lead to the arrest of fugitive Bulgarian-born “cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova.
The US ambassador to Bulgaria, Kenneth Merten, said Ignatova is wanted in the United States and Germany “for her participation in one of the largest global fraud schemes in history” which defrauded victims of more than $4 billion.
Ignatova, 44, evaded arrest by fleeing on a flight from Sofia to Athens two weeks after her indictment in October 2017 and her whereabouts remain unknown.
Ignatova, who has German citizenship, is accused of being the mastermind behind the mammoth fraudulent virtual currency scheme OneCoin.
In 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation placed her on its 10 most wanted list.
Merten said the United States will issue a statement later Wednesday explaining how people can “anonymously provide tips to assist us in this ongoing investigation.”
Ignatova launched OneCoin in Sofia back in 2014, with the initial intention to pocket some of the money placed on the platform by her clients, according to the indictment.
In fact, having entered the scheme, it was virtually impossible for clients to recover their funds, authorities say.
Instead, OneCoin offered additional credits to those who recruited others, which enabled the company to grow rapidly, defrauding investors from many countries from China to the United States, Europe and the Middle East.
Bulgaria is planning to also press charges against her in absentia, allowing proceedings to be launched to confiscate her property worth over 10 million euros, chief prosecutor Borislav Sarafov said Wednesday.
Ignatova’s brother, Konstantin Ignatov, who had taken over as head of OneCoin, was arrested in 2019 in Los Angeles.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 34 months in jail. He was released in March 2024.
The platform’s co-founder, Sebastian Greenwood was extradited by Thailand and sentenced last year in the United States to 20 years in prison.
