The Bulgarian national Ruja Ignatova, born in May 1980, known as the “Cryptoqueen,” co-founded the infamous cryptocurrency-based multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme called OneCoin in 2014 alongside MLM artist Karl Greenwood. The scheme was orchestrated under the guise of a legitimate crypto operation from Sofia, Bulgaria, and quickly expanded its operations globally. OneCoin managed to amass over $4 billion from around 3.5 million people worldwide.
OneCoin was nothing short of a massive fraud, cleverly marketed to lure investors into a Ponzi scheme that promised revolutionary technology and financial liberation. From its inception until late 2016, OneCoin managed to amass over $4 billion from around 3.5 million people worldwide, making it one of the largest scams in history. Investors were deceived through elaborate presentations and promises and manipulated into purchasing educational cryptocurrency trading packages that were fundamentally worthless.
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The Charismatic OneCoin Leader
Ruja Ignatova was the charismatic face of OneCoin, leveraging her sophisticated demeanor and articulate presentations to gain the trust and admiration of investors. She claimed that OneCoin was the next big thing in the financial world, destined to rival Bitcoin. However, the underlying technology was nonexistent, and the coins had no real value. The operation relied on using new investors’ money to pay returns to earlier investors, a classic Ponzi structure.
By 2017, as international scrutiny intensified and legal challenges mounted, Ignatova’s façade began to crumble. In October 2017, shortly before a secret U.S. warrant was issued for her arrest, she disappeared after boarding a flight from Sofia to Athens. She has not been seen since, and rumors of her whereabouts include possible travel on a German passport to countries ranging from the United Arab Emirates to Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe.
The U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, officially charged Ignatova with multiple counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering. Despite her disappearance, her legacy of deception continues to unravel as other OneCoin executives face justice.
The Other Perpetrators
Her brother, Konstantin Ignatov, initially took over as CEO but was arrested in March 2019. He served 34 months in prison after his involvement in the scam and was released in March 2024. Other significant figures, such as Irina Dilkinska, the head of legal and compliance, and American lawyer Mark Scott, have also been sentenced for their roles in laundering the illicit proceeds. Dilkinska has been sentenced to 4 years in prison. The OneCoin money-launderer Scott received a 10-year prison sentence. Ignatova’s co-founder, Karl Greenwood, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $300 million.
Still Wanted by The FBI
Today, Ignatova remains one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, with a substantial bounty for information leading to her arrest. Her story reminds us of the dark side of the cryptocurrency boom and cautions us about the lure of quick wealth in the high-stakes world of digital finance. As regulators and law enforcement continue to trace the remnants of OneCoin, the global community remains alert to the potential for such frauds, which exploit the complexities of cryptocurrency and the hopes of the unsuspecting.
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