"You're in at such an early stage and it's just going to go like Bitcoin. Ruja's ambition was to create a cryptocurrency to rival Bitcoin for the ordinary person who was not an experienced investor, but who could invest a smaller amount of money and make a considerable profit. OneCoins other co-founder, Sebastian Greenwood, also fled. Daniel translates, and his mother's reply comes back. Those events were packed and organized like rock concerts. (I tested this explanation on my mother, the family technophobe, and she told me I'd failed to make it clear enough and should start again. "You can never be blamed for believing in something. Some sources think it could be four times that amount. Former 'Cryptoqueen' is now one of 10 most-wanted fugitives Ruja Ignatova, a founder of OneCoin, is accused of running a $4 billion pyramid scheme By Mara Luisa Pal July 1, 2022 at 7:31 a.m.. Lots of people were looking to get involved in this strange new opportunity. Then, two years ago, she disappeared. ), 'Hun, this could be your opportunity to get rich'. There were rumours of course - lots of them. He doesn't seem certain it's a good idea. When we started planning the Missing Cryptoqueen podcast in late 2018, no-one really had a clue what happened to Dr Ruja after her disappearance. "We made in our first month almost 90,000 out of nothing. And if you get in early, there's the chance to make a fortune. A towel covers the front door, and a few metres away is her land, where she grows her own food and sells anything left over at the local market. And his targets were public libraries in America where he would masquerade as a "jolly," well-educated professor and ultimately pillage rare books to the tune of more than half a million dollars. It emerged during a money-laundering trial in. We also learned that Dr Ruja had a daughter in late 2016, and that she remained very close to her. And then went completely off radar. Files seen by the BBC from Europol meetings suggest the FBI-wanted fugitive knew about efforts to arrest her months before she vanished. One Property was owned by another company called Risk Ltd. Risk Ltd was owned by Ruja, but was then transferred to some unnamed Panamanians, but it was still managed by another company called Peragon. OneCoin was still growing fast, and Dr Ruja was starting to spend her new fortune: buying multi-million-dollar properties in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, and the Black Sea resort of Sozopol. Ignatovas brother, Konstantin Ignatova, took over the operation after she fled. VideoAt the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Sake brewers toast big rise in global sales, The Indian-American CEO who wants to be US president, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, Exploring the rigging claims in Nigeria's elections, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip, Ukraine war casts shadow over India's G20 ambitions, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Ruja Plamenova Ignatova ( Bulgarian: , romanized : Rua Plamenova Ignatova; born 30 May 1980) is a Bulgarian -born German citizen and convicted fraudster. More folk are going to promote this. "If they still thought we were a fraudulent company, then guess what, that warning's not removed. She feels guilty towards those who she introduced to OneCoin, she says, but also towards her late father, a miner, who worked hard all his life in horrible conditions, and left her the money that she then gave away. The documents include details of US authorities having a "high-placed confidential informant", OneCoin bank accounts receiving investor funds, and unsuccessful efforts by the UK's City of London Police to interview Ms Ignatova. It's also notorious for exaggerated promises of high earnings and tough sales targets. For several months, a French journalist called Maxime Grimbert tried to unpick OneCoin's corporate workings, collecting as many company names and bank account details as he could. The alleged murderer, Hristo Hristov, who is also Bulgarian, is currently serving time in a Dutch prison for drug trafficking. In early 2019, she was charged in absentia by U.S. authorities for wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. When you're dealing with a scam worth billions of euros, it's not unusual for shadowy groups to get involved. This is a pyramid scheme, and it's very illegal. There are videos of the minister, known as Bishop Fred, leading the congregation in call and response. There is a BBC Sounds podcast called "The Missing Cryptoqueen." They have persuaded their friends and families to invest in OneCoin. In fact, OneCoins were entirely worthless, he said, per CNN. Could she really be hiding out in the heart of the EU? The US Department of Prosecutions has charged Ignatova with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud. It turned out to be a shouting match, but it would send McAdam's life in a new direction. The FBI launched their most wanted list in 1950 and of the 529 fugitives that have earned an honorable mention, shes one of just 11 women. But they have always failed because no-one could trust them. [24], The Federal Bureau of Investigation added Ignatova to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, and announced at a joint press conference with IRS Criminal Investigation and United States Attorney's Office Southern District of New York, offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to her arrest. There are also investors who feel guilty. She told people she had invented a cryptocurrency to rival Bitcoin, and persuaded them to invest billions. "We've been unable to identify UK-based assets, which could be used to compensate UK investors. "In my opinion, for what it's worth, she's moving around the Mediterranean," he says. The reason so many people are excited by Bitcoin is that it solves that problem. She is now on the FBIs list of the 10 most-wanted fugitives and is the only woman currently on the hit list. The force has provided assistance to foreign law enforcement partners in respect of their investigations concerning OneCoin personnel and will continue to do this. Here's an example: Ruja bought a very large property in central Sofia. Back July 2018 he was arrested in Koh Samui, Thailand, and extradited to the US where he pleaded guilty to wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money. In August this year, the City of London police ended a two-year investigation into OneCoin. What's he waiting for? The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. It added that the allegations made about it around the world were being challenged, stating: "Our partners, our customers and our lawyers are fighting successfully against this action around the globe and we are sure that the vision of a new system on the basis of a 'financial revolution' will be established. OneCoin is no longer operational, with the token unusable and the website inactive. But when Daniel found out about OneCoin, it suddenly seemed like a much better alternative. pic.twitter.com/Qv2nNE8Mwf. There is some very clever maths behind all this, but this means that Bitcoins can't be faked, they can't be hacked and can't be double-spent. You think, 'Wait a bit longer. The 42-year-old Bulgarian-born woman is wanted for her alleged role in running a cryptocurrency scam known as OneCoin. Listen to The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast on BBC Sounds - the search for Dr Ruja Ignatova continues, with a new episode about the police leak out on 19 October. "And in that sense it's cultic.". From a tiny fragment of a poster advertising a tennis tournament, an expert identified the park in which one photograph was taken. Previously, the property belonged to a company called Abbots House Penthouse Limited, based in Guernsey, a well-known tax haven with very little government oversight. Details first surfaced in 2021 in leaked documents from Dubai's courts, posted online by Dr. Jonathan Levy, a UK-based lawyer, who described her as "the most successful criminal in history.". The 16th century English buccaneer Sir Francis Drake died without heirs and this has inspired many to search for his supposed fortune, and others to swindle fortune hunters. Not guilt," he replies. At the age of 10, her family moved to Germany. "When prophecy fails they believe more strongly," she says. But when the day came, Dr Ruja - who was famously punctual - didn't show up. The stranger was Timothy Curry, a Bitcoin enthusiast and cryptocurrency advocate. She had no computer or smartphone, to do her own research. Up to 90 years for the Ponzi scheme. She started planning holidays and shopping trips. "What's the name of the company?" Cryptoqueen: How this woman scammed the world, then vanished, BBC News, November 24, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61966824, https://www.banklesstimes.com/news/2021/11/17/onecoin-alive-and-kicking-in-bulgaria-govt-assisted-crypto-pyramid-scheme/. 16 months' suspended imprisonment for a previous case. And literally my legs just went, and I fell on the floor,'" she says. It represents the dark side of rapid technological change - the way that every new technology creates amazing new opportunities and possibilities for people who understand it, but also the chance to exploit the people who don't. The daughter, we were informed, might be in Frankfurt. When I ask for more details, he replies: "No, I cannot tell that because I don't want to take that risk with our lives.". This is clearly a question for a professional, which is why Georgia and I went to see private investigator Alan McLean. 'Haters' - Bitcoiners are 'haters'. he shouts. She started asking the leaders of her OneCoin group if there was a blockchain. Charles Ponzi is remembered for creating the Ponzi scheme. Didn't seem to be the contents of the famous 3rd floor cash room :) Looked as if the company is moving out, but who knows pic.twitter.com/vH0XzMFef0. Onecoin's Ruja Ignatova is a mysterious woman who has been on the run for over three years now. It's also been suggested that there are powerful people who might protect her in her native Bulgaria - and that she could hide in plain sight because of plastic surgery that makes her unrecognisable. Bulgarian-born German citizen Ruja Ignatova, FBIs list of the 10 most-wanted fugitives. The manager of the database could go in and change it at will. HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. But to me it symbolises something else too. She was dressed, as usual, in an expensive ballgown, wearing long diamond earrings and bright red lipstick. Dr. Ruja Ignatova was born in Sofia, Bulgaria on May 30, 1980. On the other hand, Ruja and her collaborators amassed millions, which provided them with an affluent lifestyle: they bought luxury yachts, expensive jewelery and exclusive properties. "No other company even came close," Alberts says. The Forbes cover isn't: it was actually an inside cover - a paid-for advertisement - from Forbes Bulgaria, but once the real cover was ripped off, it looked impressive. In addition to losing their own money, they were the instigators for their loved ones to lose their investments as well. "I thought, 'What???' Strehl, husband of one the biggest scammers Ruja, was invisible during the whole OneCoin saga. '", Money might push people to invest in the first place, but the sense of belonging, of doing something, of achieving something, is why they stay, Barker says. DeSantis won't say he's running. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is responsible for regulating financial markets in the UK, issued a warning on its website only in September 2016. Ignatov and Greenwood could face a maximum sentence of 90 years in prison. It seemed like easy money. "I'm devastated for all the UK victims," Jen McAdam told me, when she heard the news. The documents show attendees from Bulgaria's Interior Ministry at the March 2017 Europol meeting. OneCoin was not a cryptocurrency and it did not have blockchain technology. Some feared she'd been killed or kidnapped by the banks, who - they'd been told - had most to fear from the cryptocurrency revolution. "The problem is that when you create this company, no-one checks any of the information provided." He said he could prove it, too. If you believe you have been a victim of fraud in relation to OneCoin or you suspect someone of actively marketing OneCoin, please come forward and report it to Action Fraud online.". She was entered into a Whatsapp group, with its own "leader" who disseminated information from the headquarters in Sofia. Do you know who to complain to when you are a victim of a Ponzi scheme or pyramid scheme? People involved at the early stages have told him it was never supposed to be a billion-dollar scam. But there was something wrong. "What was her lifestyle? According to the documents, the meeting was attended by the FBI, the US Department of Justice and the New York District Attorney. The self-styled crypto queen, however, is now wanted by law enforcement for her involvement in the OneCoin scheme. ", The City of London Police told the BBC: "There was insufficient evidence to support criminal proceedings against individuals based in the UK, though the force has never specified that there had been no concerns surrounding OneCoin. Dr. Ruja Ignatova was born in Sofia, Bulgaria on May 30, 1980. I pay 100 to start selling vitamin tablets directly to people. This mushrooms very rapidly - 25 rounds of recruitment later and everyone in the UK would be selling vitamins. I will double your coins, I will double your coins. According to the BBC in an article dated July 2, 2022, Ignatova stashed millions of dollars in the rival Bitcoin before disappearing in 2017. Before long, she had invested 10,000 of her own money - and persuaded friends and family to invest 250,000 of theirs. It's mathematic. "I said to Andreea, 'We need to build it up to 100 million coins, because when this coin goes to 100 and we have 100 million, we are richer than Bill Gates.' By March 2017, more than 3.5 billion had been invested in the OneCoin system. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. They keep postponing this. she replied, sharply. On the run since 2017, Dr Ruja Ignat One spring day a few months earlier, Jen McAdam received a message from a friend about an unmissable investment opportunity. Ms Ignatova disappeared on 25 October 2017 after being tipped off about intensifying police investigations into her OneCoin cryptocurrency. How a con man duped struggling farmers into a pigeon breeding scheme that had fraud written all over it. 66K views, 1.6K likes, 214 loves, 348 comments, 854 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Cryptoqueen: I would like to share some very personal and exciting news with you. The nature of MLM networks - where people often recruit others who are close to them - creates a blurred sense of responsibility. Ruja Ignatova and her business partner Sebastian Greenwood conned their clients out of $4 Billion. The FCA did not respond to the BBC's request to comment. I've even heard that she might be in London. This was to be resolved at a large gathering of European OneCoin promoters in Lisbon, Portugal, in October 2017. A small beaten down van parked in front and was filled with various office equipment and supplies. [25] The FBI followed up with an episode of its podcast and YouTube series Inside the FBI devoted to Ignatova and the OneCoin case. Author's note: I am not an expert in cryptocurrencies. Ruja Ignatova, or Dr. Ruja, was a prominent figure in the growing cryptocurrency market. After that, she vanished and remains missing. The OneCoin founder is now wanted by . But they used some of this cash to buy more OneCoin. Whether it's Bank of England notes and coins, shells, precious stones or matchsticks - all of which have historically been used as money - it only works when everyone trusts it. The Federal Criminal Police Office announced a 5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Officers from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Dubai and Bulgaria were also present. She tried to close it down, he says, but the dark forces wouldn't let her. She started her own company, OneCoin, in 2014 with her brother Konstantin Ignatov, which was touted as a lucrative rival to the leading . Reluctantly, she agreed to a conversation on Skype. "I'm somehow hiding myself. 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