US adds Bulgarian-German 'cryptoqueen' to most-wanted list over mass fraud

Ruja Ignatova has been on the run for five years after discovering that the FBI was on to her. She has been charged with eight counts of fraud for absconding with some $4 billion.

Ruja Ignatova has not been seen since boarding a plane to Greece five years ago

Ruja Ignatova, a Bulgarian-born woman who now holds German citizenship who disappeared in 2017, has been placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. US officials said she was wanted for defrauding investors, some of them US citizens, out of $4 billion (€3.8 billion) by selling a fake cryptocurrency called OneCoin.

Known as the "cryptoqueen," Ignatova has been charged with eight counts, including wire fraud and securities fraud for running the Bulgaria-based OneCoin Ltd. as a pyramid scheme. Prosecutors say the company offered commissions for members to entice others to buy a worthless cryptocurrency.

"She timed her scheme perfectly, capitalizing on the frenzied speculation of the early days of cryptocurrency," said Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan.

Williams described OneCoin as "one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history."

'Money can buy a lot of friends'

Ignatova, who was born in Bulgaria, has been on the run for five years, when it was discovered she had bugged the apartment belonging to her US boyfriend and realized he was cooperating with the FBI. She boarded a plane from Bulgaria to Greece and has not been seen since.

The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to Ignatova's capture, said Michael Driscoll, the FBI's assistant director-in-charge in New York.

"She left with a tremendous amount of cash," Driscoll told a press conference. "Money can buy a lot of friends, and I would imagine she's taking advantage of that."

Ignatova's accomplice, former corporate lawyer Mark Scott, was recently found guilty of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering by a New York City federal court.

es/sms (dpa, Reuters, AFP)