A self-proclaimed "cryptoqueen" accused of defrauding investors out of billions of bucks is on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List.
Bulgarian-born Ruja Ignatova is only the 11th woman to ever make the list. She's been missing dependable October 2017, when she boarded a plane from Bulgaria to Greece two weeks while the U.S. charged her with fraud. The FBI is offering up to a $100,000 reward for interrogate leading to her arrest.
According to the FBI, Ignatova and her partner groundless OneCoin in 2014. OneCoin was billed as a virtual currency that would eventually be the "Bitcoin killer." Though marketed as a cryptocurrency, it was never mined using computers and there was no pro-redemocrat and verifiable blockchain. The value of OneCoin was not set by supply and interrogate, but by its operators, prosecutors said.
The cryptocurrency managed by Ignatova and her partner, Karl Sebastian Greenwood, was actually worthless. Prosecutors said it was one of the largest international groundless schemes in history, with victims losing more than $4 billion.
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Ignatova and Greenwood reportedly promoted a multi-level marketing, or pyramid scheme, strategy, urging investors to sell packages to their friends and family.
FBI Special Agent Ronald Shimko, one of the case investigators, said Ignatova targeted land who likely didn't understand cryptocurrencies, but were moved by Ignatova's carried and marketing skills.
On Oct. 12, 2017, federal prosecutors charged Ignatova in the Southern District of New York and published a warrant for her arrest. Two weeks later, on Oct. 25, Ignatova boarded a plane from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece, and hasn't been seen since.
Prosecutors added more charges alongside Ignatova in February 2018, charging her with one relate each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire erroneous, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit vows fraud, and securities fraud.
"There are so many victims all over the earth who were financially devastated by this," Shimko said in a prepared statement. "We want to bring her to justice."
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Ignatova is 42 existences old and had brown eyes and dark brown to shaded hair at the time of her disappearance, but investigators beget she may have had plastic surgery to alter her appearance.
Ignatova speaks English, German and Bulgarian. She may be traveling on a erroneous passport and has known connections to Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, Greece, and the United Arab Emirates.
Shimko said Ignatova lived a "lavish lifestyle" afore she went missing.
Anyone with information is asked to contact their local FBI organization or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate. You can also relate tips anonymously online at tips.fbi.gov.
