Disgraced “Crypto Queen” Ruja Ignatova’s time on the run could also be coming to an finish.
Ignatova, 42, a German citizen born in Bulgaria, is a former crypto pioneer who vanished in October 2017 after over-promising excessive returns on her OneCoin crypto token in a $4 billion Ponzi Scheme. She’s now dealing with a number of fees of fraud and has been on the run from the FBI for 5 years.
Though she hasn’t been seen since her disappearance, a brand new London residence itemizing suggests she’s alive and evading arrest.
Ignatova, the one lady on the FBI’s most needed record, was not too long ago discovered to be related to an £11 million [$13.6 million] penthouse apartment on the market in Kensington, England, because of a brand new rule change by the UK’s Firms Home, which acts equally to the united statess Public Firm Accounting Oversight Board.
The rule now requires properties bought by corporations to additionally record a beneficiary, and whereas it’s believed Ignatova initially bought the house beneath a shell firm, a brand new court docket submitting to the UK’s monetary regulators lists Ignatova because the “useful proprietor” of the property – inadvertently exposing her whereabouts.
Ignatova’s connection to the house was first noticed by the host of “The Missing Cryptoqueen” podcast, Jamie Bartlett.
“[The document] suggests she remains to be alive, and there are paperwork on the market someplace which include important clues as to her current whereabouts,” Bartlett instructed iNews.
Since Ignatova’s hyperlink to the house, which was listed on Knight Frank actual property web site, was confirmed, the itemizing has been eliminated.
Here is what to know in regards to the disgraced “Crypto Queen.”
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Who’s Ruja Ignatova?
Earlier than Ruja Ignatova change into considered one of 11 ladies to be on the FBI’s most needed record in its 72-year historical past, she was considered a rising star within the crypto business.
Ignatova was identified for liking glitz and glamour, per CNN, and was revered for rising from her humble beginnings in Germany to success as a advisor after which a crypto entrepreneur.
Collectively along with her enterprise accomplice Sebastian Greenwood, the pair satisfied traders to again their OneCoin crypto token which they mentioned can be extra helpful than Bitcoin. Nevertheless, authorities discovered that OneCoin defrauded investors out of $4 billion in one of many largest worldwide fraud schemes of all time.
“OneCoins had been completely nugatory … (Their) lies had been designed with one aim, to get on a regular basis individuals everywhere in the world to half with their hard-earned cash,” U.S. prosecutors mentioned, in response to court documents.
Moreover, the court docket paperwork reveal that Ignatova and Greenwood supposed to deceive their shoppers from the get-go, calling their very own token a “trashy coin” and discussing an exit technique in non-public emails.
Their scheme imploded in 2016 when traders struggled to promote their OneCoins to recoup their investments, alerting the media and investigators to look into the enterprise.
Then in October 2017, the U.S. Division of Justice charged Ignatova with one depend of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit cash laundering, with a federal choose issuing a warrant for her arrest, court documents state.
However Ignatova fled on a flight from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece, simply two weeks after the warrant was issued and he or she hasn’t been seen since.
The FBI has supplied a $100,000 reward for info resulting in her arrest. Moreover, they mentioned: “Ignatova is believed to journey with armed guards and/or associates. Ignatova could have had cosmetic surgery or in any other case altered her look.”
The #FBI has named Ruja Ignatova to its Ten Most Needed Fugitives Record. She is needed for her alleged participation in a large-scale fraud scheme involving cryptocurrency. As much as $100,000 reward supplied for information resulting in her arrest: https://t.co/oU7EKYqaCi pic.twitter.com/tJ8co8aqx0
— FBI Most Needed (@FBIMostWanted) June 30, 2022
What Occurred to OneCoin?
Ruja Ignatova and her cofounder lured individuals to their OneCoin scheme starting in 2014 by promising traders world wide a fivefold or tenfold return on their investments.
Making the most of the crypto frenzy on the time, traders gave them $4 billion between 2014 and 2016. Nevertheless, OneCoin’s worth was manipulated by the corporate and it was by no means mined like different cryptocurrencies, regardless of telling traders in any other case, in response to CNN.
As soon as regulators uncovered the scheme and Ignatova vanished, she left her companions to cope with the fallout.
Cofounder Sebastian Greenwood was arrested in July 2018. He is at present in jail after pleading responsible to wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to launder cash. He’s set to be sentenced in April.
Ignatova’s brother, Konstantin Ignatov, who was additionally part of the enterprise scheme, was arrested in March 2019 and is about to be sentenced in February after pleading responsible to wire fraud conspiracy, cash laundering, and fraud fees.
Because the scandal unraveled, OneCoin has been shut down and its web site is not energetic.
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What Is Ruja Ignatova’s Internet Value?
A lawsuit filed by the victims towards OneCoin revealed that Ignatova had $500 million in Dubai financial institution accounts as of 2021, per a report by Financial Finds. It is unknown how a lot crypto she holds, however the outlet discovered that she was paid 230,000 Bitcoins by a member of the Emirati royal household in 2015.
Supply: Entrepreneur