Europol has included Ruja Ignatova, the Founder and mastermind behind the OneCoin crypto fraud, on the list of Europe’s most wanted fugitives. Other names in that list include murderers, narcotic traffickers and other violent criminals.
The European law enforcement agency is offering a reward of up to €5,000 for any information that might lead to the arrest of Ignatova. But, given the magnitude of her crime, the reward amount seems too small.
“This reward is intended exclusively for private individuals and not for public officials whose professional duties include the prosecution of criminal offenses,” the Europol’s notice stated.
One of the Largest Crypto Frauds
Ignatova, also known as the crypto queen, created OneCoin in 2014 in Sofia, Bulgaria. She headed the organization until she suddenly vanished from the public eye in October 2017.
“[She] is suspected of having, as the driving force and intellectual inventor of the alleged cryptocurrency 'OneCoin', induced investors all over the world to invest in this actually worthless ‘currency’,” Europol stated.
Indeed, OneCoin was one of the largest cryptocurrency scams to date. With its multi-level marketing network, the crypto scheme penetrated around 175 countries, swindling as much as $5 billion.
The fraudulent scheme claimed to have 3 million members worldwide and reported a total revenue of €3.4 billion from the fourth quarter of 2014 to the third quarter of 2016, as disclosed in a US court.
“The fraud-related loss established so far is in the upper double-digit million range. The loss caused on a global scale probably amounts to several billion USD,” the notice added.
Prosecutors of several jurisdictions are now taking action against the massive crypto scam. Konstantin Ignatov, who is Ruja’s brother and ran OneCoin from mid-2018, was arrested and has already pled guilty to fraud and money laundering charges in a US court. The Co-Founder of OneCoin, Karl Sebastian Greenwood and the corporate lawyer, Mark Scott were both arrested and prosecuted.
