OneCoin founder Ruja Ignatova, who steered one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency frauds, is back into the spotlight more than five years after vanishing from the public eye.
Ignatova, also known as the “missing Cryptoqueen”, resurfaced in a filing linked to a London property, which was reportedly submitted to the British government this month.
The Bulgarian woman, believed to be in her 40s, was listed as a beneficial owner of Abbots House Penthouse Limited, which she purchased under a Guernsey-based company name. Lawyers representing Ignatova listed her name on the penthouse that went up for sale with an asking price of $15.5 million which was then downgraded to $13.6 million.
Ignatova, who disappeared without a trace since 2017, reportedly came out of the oblivion because of a new rule in the UK which required any “beneficial owner” to be named in full rather than just her shell company.
OneCoin was founded in 2014 by the Bulgarian businesswoman, who served as OneCoin’s top leader until her disappearance. Since 2016, the project has been a subject of investigations in the US and UK, and several countries have tried to catch scam operatives ever since.
The FBI added Ignatova last year to its list of 10 most wanted fugitives — a notoriety normally bestowed on suspected cartel leaders, terrorists and killers. Announcing a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to her arrest, federal investigators accuse Ignatova of defrauding victims out of more than $4 billion.
Her brother, Konstantin Ignatov, who is accused of co-masterminding the OneCoin pyramid scheme, was arrested in 2019 and pleaded guilty to several charges, including money laundering.
Despite desperately attempting to diminish his role within OneCoin, Ignatov ultimately revealed some details about the disappearance of his sister, implying even he was duped by Ignatova. He told the judge that the OneCoin founder described critics of her exit-scam as “haters,” and that she was afraid somebody close to her was going to give her up to the FBI.
The FBI has also arrested Mark Scott, a former partner with the international law firm Locke Lord, who has been accused of laundering approximately $400 million, which investigators claim is the proceeds of OneCoin scheme.
Investigators say that Scott laundered funds through hedge funds in the Cayman Islands and sent the majority of these funds back to the unnamed founders of the scheme.
