Ruja Ignatova

In this Bulgarian name, the patronymic is Plamenova and the family name is Ignatova.

Ruja Ignatova
FBI picture
FBI picture
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive
Reward$5,000,000
Description
BornRuzha Plamenova Ignatova
(1980-05-30) 30 May 1980 (age 44)
Ruse, Bulgaria
Nationality
  • Bulgarian (formerly)[1]
  • German
Status
PenaltyUp to 90 years for the Ponzi scheme. 16 months' suspended imprisonment for a previous case.
Added30 June 2022
Number527
Currently a Top Ten Fugitive

Ruja Plamenova Ignatova (Bulgarian: Ружа Пламенова Игнатова, romanized: Ruža Plamenova Ignatova, occasionally transliterated as "Ruga Ignatova"; born 30 May 1980)[2] is a Bulgarian-born German entrepreneur best known as the founder of a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme known as OneCoin, which The Times described as "one of the biggest scams in history."[3][4][5] She was the subject of the 2019 BBC podcast series The Missing Cryptoqueen and the 2022 book of the same name.[6][7]

Since 2017, Ignatova has been on the run from various international law enforcement agencies, with the FBI offering up to five million dollars for any information leading to her arrest. In early 2019, she was charged in absentia by U.S. authorities for wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. She was added to the FBI Ten Most Wanted in June 2022.[3][8] Ignatova is the subject of an Interpol warrant issued by German authorities.[9]

Reporting in 2023 and 2024 suggested that Ignatova may have been murdered in 2018 on the orders of Bulgarian organised crime figure "Taki" Hristoforos Nikos Amanatidis, who is suspected of initially sheltering her.[10][11]

  1. ^ "Продължава издирването на 41-годишна германска гражданка, родена у нас" [Search continues for 41-year-old German national born in Bulgaria]. MOI Press Office. Archived from the original on April 19, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  2. ^ Kristen Young (October 6, 2019). "OneCoin defendant seeks to suppress statements made to federal agents". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Cryptoqueen: How this woman scammed the world, then ran". BBC. November 24, 2019.
  4. ^ Cellan-Jones, Rory (September 26, 2019). "The mystery of the disappearing 'Cryptoqueen'". BBC.
  5. ^ Bartlett, Jamie (December 15, 2019). "The £4bn OneCoin scam: how crypto-queen Dr Ruja Ignatova duped ordinary people out of billions — then went missing". The Times.
  6. ^ Morris, David Z (November 6, 2019). "Is OneCoin The Biggest Financial Fraud in History?". Fortune. Archived from the original on May 2, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  7. ^ Bartlett, Jamie (June 7, 2022). The Missing Cryptoqueen: The Billion Dollar Cryptocurrency Con and the Woman Who Got Away with It. New York: Hachette Books. ISBN 978-0-306-82916-1.
  8. ^ "Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Charges Against Leaders Of "OneCoin," A Multibillion-Dollar Pyramid Scheme Involving The Sale Of A Fraudulent Cryptocurrency". U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York. March 9, 2019.
  9. ^ "View Red Notices". www.interpol.int. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  10. ^ Tchobanov, Atanas; Stoyanov, Dimitar (February 17, 2023). "MOI documents: Ruja Ignatova was killed on Taki's orders. The head of the Police "Killings" department worked for him". BIRD. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  11. ^ "Missing Cryptoqueen's murky links to Bulgarian underworld". BBC News. June 3, 2024. Retrieved June 3, 2024.