CryptoQueen Ruja Ignatova, Mastermind Behind $4 Billion OneCoin Scam, Still on the Run

Ruja Ignota, a Bulgarian national better known as CryptoQueen and founder of the $4 billion OneCoin scam, is still on the run.

Ruja Ignatova, also known as the “CryptoQueen,” is still wanted by the FBI for her role in the $4 billion OneCoin scam. Despite being charged in absentia by a US District Court in 2017, Ignatova's whereabouts remain unknown.

The FBI is now offering a $5 million reward for any information that can lead to her arrest. Ignatova, a Bulgarian national, is accused of masterminding the OneCoin Ponzi scheme, which defrauded investors around the world.

According to the indictment, Ignatova and her co-conspirators promoted OneCoin as a cryptocurrency that would generate massive returns for investors. They also offered other products, such as “educational packages,” to entice investors.

However, the indictment alleges that OneCoin was not a genuine cryptocurrency and that the company did not operate a blockchain network, as it claimed. Instead, the scheme operated as a pyramid, with existing investors being asked to recruit new ones and the investments from older investors being funneled to the newcomers.

After being charged in the US, Ignatova is believed to have traveled from Bulgaria to Athens, Greece, on October 25, 2017. She then went missing, and her last known location was Greece.

Authorities believe that Ignatova may have had plastic surgery or other cosmetic procedures to alter her appearance and evade attention. She is also known to have held a German passport, which she may have used to flee from Greece.

Due to Ignatova not being caught yet, Bulgaria has decided to charge her in absentia. The announcement was made in a joint statement by Borislav Sarafov, Bulgaria’s Acting Prosecutor General, and Kenneth Merten, US Ambassador to Bulgaria.

OneCoin’s co-founder and legal head, Sebastian Greenwood, was arrested in Thailand in 2018 and extradited to the US, where he pleaded guilty to charges related to the scam.

Ignatova's boyfriend, Gilbert Armenta, and her brother, Konstantin Ignatov, were also arrested and charged in the US. Armenta pleaded guilty to charges related to the scam, while Konstantin Ignatov is awaiting trial.