The U.S. is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of a woman wanted for her role in one of the largest global fraud schemes in history. Victims lost an estimated $4 billion in the fraud.
The Department of State is announcing a reward for locating German national Ruja Ignatova.
Ignatova is a co-founder of OneCoin Ltd. Beginning in approximately 2014 in Bulgaria, she and others allegedly defrauded investors from across the world out of billions of dollars.
Massive Cryptocurrency Fraud
She is accused of promoting OneCoin as a digital currency investment through false statements to attract investors. She became known as the cryptoqueen through her promotions.
By 2017, OneCoin is believed to have defrauded victims of more than $4 billion.
Ignatova was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2017 and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Two weeks after the indictment Ignatova traveled from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece. The feds say she did that to evade arrest. She has been a fugitive ever since.
Ignatova was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List in 2022. Germany has also criminally charged Ignatova for her role in the transnational fraud scheme.
