One of the world’s most wanted fugitive is not some terrorist or mass murderer. In fact, it’s a woman, a cryptocurrency founder, and one who now has a £4,000,000 bounty on her head.
Ruja Ignatova, a German citizen born in Bulgaria, is allegedly the mastermind behind one of the biggest cryptocurrency scams ever. She’s accused of defrauding investors out of $4 billion (£3.3 billion) by peddling a fictitious cryptocurrency called OneCoin in 2014.
Vanishing without a trace in 2017, the then 43-year-old Ignatova has been on the FBI’s Most Wanted List since 2022. FBI officials had previously offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the woman alleged to be the mastermind behind one of the biggest global financial frauds ever committed but have since increased the payout to $5,000,000.
The Disappearance Of Dr. Ruja Ignatova
According to her FBI Most Wanted poster, armed guards and/or associates may accompany Ignatova and may have undergone plastic surgery or otherwise changed her appearance. The FBI suspects Ignatova might be using a German passport to travel to the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Greece, and Eastern Europe.
Alternatively, the Bulgarian mafia, believed to be the masterminds behind the OneCoin scheme, may have silenced her. Ignatova’s last confirmed sighting was boarding a Ryanair flight from Sofia to Athens on Oct. 25, 2017.
This came after she abruptly departed her American boyfriend’s apartment upon discovering his cooperation with the FBI. Documents discovered in 2018 following the murder of a Bulgarian police officer hinted that Ignatova may have been killed on a private yacht belonging to a Mafia boss whom she allegedly paid for protection.
The documents, however, originated from a source said to be heavily intoxicated at the time and alleged that Ignatova’s body was dismembered and disposed off in the Ionian Sea. The FBI, however, continues its search based on the assumption she is still alive.
After being added to the most-wanted list for the first time, the FBI reported Ignatova absconded with a “tremendous amount of cash” – enough to secure a significant network of accomplices. BBC journalist Jamie Bartlett, who shone a global spotlight on Ignatova’s story through his podcast “The Missing Cryptoqueen,” believes the increased bounty targets individuals who might still be protecting her.
The FBI has shifted its focus to Dr. Ignatova’s associates, hoping to entice them into cooperating. A $100,000 reward wouldn’t be tempting enough for a low-level criminal or bodyguard. However, $5 million might be a different story. “We will probably know within a few weeks if it’s worked.”
OneCoin: A Multi-Million Dollar Scam
Although Ignatova’s whereabouts remain unknown, other perpetrators of the OneCoin scam have been apprehended. OneCoin’s co-founder, Karl Sebastian Greenwood, and its former head of legal and compliance, Irina Dilkinska, admitted guilt in December 2022 to federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering related to the scam.
Data group Chainalysis’s 2022 report showed that cryptocurrency-based crime reached an all-time high in 2021, while legitimate cryptocurrency transactions also surged to record levels. Criminals adopt different ways to steal in the virtual world. In 2022, US officials announced they had recovered $3.6 billion worth of bitcoin stolen in a 2016 hack.
