Fugitive ‘CryptoQueen’ added to FBI Most Wanted list

The FBI has added Ruja Ignatova, known as “CryptoQueen,” to its list of Ten Most Wanted fugitives, offering up to $100,000 for information that leads to her arrest. 

Ignatova has been facing five charges including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and securities fraud since 2018 after she allegedly defrauded investors who invested in her fake cryptocurrency OneCoin out of billions of dollars. 

She launched the Bulgaria-based company OneCoin in 2014 and is believed to have defrauded investors out of more than $4 billion while she served as the company’s leader through 2017, according to an FBI release. 

The release states that Ignatova allegedly made false statements and representations to victims to convince them to invest in OneCoin. She instructed her customers to transmit money to OneCoin accounts to buy the cryptocurrency. 

The release states that Ignatova traveled from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece, in October 2017, the month that a federal grand jury first indicted her and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a warrant for her arrest. A superseding indictment that filed the five charges against her was issued in February 2018. 

Ignatova’ listing on the FBI’s website states that she is believed to travel with armed guards or associates and may have altered her appearance through plastic surgery or other means. She might travel on a German passport to the United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, Greece or Eastern Europe.