New YorkGermany accused of selling fake cryptocurrencies called OneCoin and tricking investors from $ 4 billion Citizens Added to FBI US officials released a list of the 10 most wanted fugitives on Thursday.
Ruja Ignatova, also known as the "Cryptoqueen," operated Bulgaria-based OneCoin Ltd as a murine fraud in 2019 on eight charges, including wire fraud and securities fraud. I was charged. Her prosecution says the company offered members a fee to seduce others to buy worthless cryptocurrencies.
"She used her enthusiastic speculation in her early days of cryptocurrency to perfectly time her plans," said Manhattan's Supreme Federal Prosecutor. Damian Williams said.
Williams described Onecoin as "one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history."
Ignatova said she disappeared in late 2017 after eavesdropping on an apartment owned by an American boyfriend and learning that she was cooperating with an FBI investigation into Onecoin. Williams said. She boarded a plane from Bulgaria to Greece and he said she hadn't been seen since.
The FBI is offering a $ 100,000 bounty for information that could lead to the arrest of Ignatova, said Michael Driscol, FBI's assistant director for New York. ..
Driscoll declined to comment on the lead about where Ignatova is. The agency will add fugitives to its most desired list if it believes the general public may be able to assist in the pursuit of the suspect.
"She left with a huge amount of cash," Driscoll told reporters. "Money can buy a lot of friends, and I imagine she's using it."
Ignatova charged with former legal counsel Mark Scott The prosecutor said he had laundered about $ 400 million for OneCoin. Scott was convicted of a money laundering plot and a bank fraud plot after a three-week trial in federal court in Manhattan.
