In the shadowy corridors of the cryptocurrency world, few figures loom as large—or as enigmatically—as the Bulgarian Ruja Ignatova, the so-called "CryptoQueen." As the architect of OneCoin, a fraudulent digital currency scheme that swindled investors out of over $4 billion, Ignatova's tale is a labyrinthine blend of high finance, deception, and a vanishing act that would make Houdini proud.
Ruja Ignatova, infamously known as the "Missing Cryptoqueen" and wanted by the FBI for masterminding the $4.5 billion OneCoin crypto fraud scheme, has now been subjected to a global asset freeze. This unprecedented legal action, initiated on behalf of defrauded investors, aims to prevent the movement or sale of her assets in a bid to secure compensation for those impacted by the massive scam, BBC reports.
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.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the unsealing of charges against the Bulgarian national Irina Dilkinska for participating in the massive OneCoin fraud scheme. OneCoin began operations in 2014 and was based in Sofia, Bulgaria. It marketed and sold the fraudulent cryptocurrency by the same name through an MLM network. Victims invested over $4 billion worldwide in the fraudulent cryptocurrency. Dilkinska was extradited from Bulgaria.
The former crypto queen Ruja Ignatova has been in the media for years. The founder of the giant crypto fraud scheme OneCoin disappeared in 2017. Her brother Konstantin Ignatov briefly headed the OneCoin MLM scheme as CEO before he was arrested. He pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges in the U.S. in 2019. Now rumors are surfacing that Ruja Ignatova would have been murdered in 2018 on behalf of a Bulgarian mafia boss.
On 21 December 2021, following an FCA application, a UK Court made a special administration order to the FCA-regulated e-Money Institution (EMI) Viola Money (Europe) Limited, established by Christopher Hamilton via the Maltese Viola Group Holdings Limited. Law enforcement investigators see Hamilton as one of the key people in the OneCoin crypto fraud scheme, who allegedly laundered more than $100 million for crypto queen Ruja Ignatova. The U.S. has requested his extradition.
U.S. prosecutors indicted Bulgarian Crypto Queen Ruja Ignatova, her brother Konstantin Ignatov, and the lawyer Mark S. Scott accusing them of fraud in connection with the $4 billion pyramid scheme OneCoin. While Konstantin Ignatov and Mark S. Scott have been convicted, Ruja still remains at large. The sentencing control date for Konstantin Ignatov has been scheduled for May 12, 2022. His Ruja Ignatova sister has made it on Europol's most wanted list. A reward of up to 5.000 € is offered for any crucial information leading to an arrest of the perpetrator.
The history of the crypto-MLM OneCoin scam definitely has all the ingredients to make a Hollywood blockbuster out of it in the near future. Based on the model of "The Wolf of Wall Street" released in 2013 with Leonardo DiCaprio in the role of the 1999 convicted US stock exchange fraudster Jordan Belfort, the OneCoin movie adaptation could fill cinemas worldwide. Surely the hundreds of thousands of aggrieved OneCoin members would buy a movie ticket. This report provides additional information and rumours around OneCoin and its Cryptoqueen.
The Florida-based US lawyer Mark S. Scott, 51, has been found guilty for his role in the OneCoin crypto scam, which raised more than $4 billion from investors convinced they were buying into a new digital currency. The New York jury found that Mark S. Scott helped to perpetrate the crypto scheme, routing approximately $400m out of the US while working to conceal the true ownership and source of the funds.