I am convinced that she is still living: Ruja Ignatova of OneCoin, where is she presently?
From Cryptoqueen to International Fugitive: Ruja Ignatova of OneCoin vanished with many billions of currency, leaving a puzzle that continues to be unresolved up to the present.
For a lengthy span of eight years, the planet has been conjecturing regarding the destiny of Ruja Ignatova: the so-called “Cryptoqueen” who disappeared with billions of dollars subsequent to promoting OneCoin, a typical Ponzi arrangement, leaving a path of falsehoods, legal actions, and a continuing enigma.
Crypto.news conversed with those who have investigated her narrative to obtain their viewpoint on her possible whereabouts.
A concise introduction to her history: Ruja Ignatova was born in Bulgaria in May 1980. When she was a decade old, she and her family relocated to Germany and settled in Schramberg, Baden-Württemberg. She finished her advanced education with accolades and earned a doctorate in private international law from the University of Konstanz in 2005. She even briefly engaged in academic investigation at Oxford University.
Prior to achieving prominence as the “Cryptoqueen,” Ignatova functioned as a consultant at McKinsey & Company. Nevertheless, her business undertakings soon encountered difficulties. In 2012, she and her father, Plamen Ignatov, were found guilty in Germany of deception connected to the acquisition of a firm and its subsequent insolvency.
## “The Subsequent Bitcoin”
What might be little recognized is that OneCoin was not Ignatova’s initial venture into the realm of cryptocurrencies.
In 2013, she was involved in a multi-level marketing fraud known as BigCoin. Reports indicate that BigCoin was initiated by John Ng and based in Hong Kong, and the undertaking was marketed in the customary MLM cryptocurrency promotion manner: “We will be the subsequent Kiyosaki: Global Economy Declining, Predicts Bitcoin at 0,000.”
The precise timing is uncertain, but at some juncture, Ronnie Skold, Sebastian Greenwood, Nigel Allen, and Ruja Ignatova herself became involved in the endeavor. In brief, BigCoin did not prosper, as it ultimately proved to be a commonplace Ponzi scheme with no blockchain whatsoever.
By the time 2014 rolled around, Ignatova had abandoned BigCoin and teamed up with Sebastian Greenwood to establish a fresh enterprise, which subsequently gained widespread recognition as OneCoin.
## A Subsequent Endeavor
Despite Ruja Ignatova being the central architect of the scheme, Sebastian Greenwood also held a vital position in OneCoin’s operations. Nevertheless, in contrast to Ignatova, Greenwood faced arrest in 2018 and received a sentence of 20 years of imprisonment.
They touted OneCoin as a groundbreaking digital currency with the ambition of supplanting Bitcoin. Through captivating gatherings and remarkably contagious advertising, they effectively persuaded a multitude (or potentially even millions) of individuals to invest, amassing roughly $4 billion across the globe. However, akin to BigCoin, OneCoin also lacked operation on any blockchain, culminating in the initiative’s downfall three years following its inception. Toncoin (TON) Value Forecast for March 26th
## Fleeing?
As the inquiry deepened, Ignatova vanished. In October of 2017, she boarded an aircraft traveling from Bulgaria to Greece and has remained unheard from ever since. Throughout the intervening years, conjecture concerning her destiny has been rampant, encompassing scenarios ranging from cosmetic surgery to assassinations orchestrated by organized crime syndicates. Certain accounts have even implied that a Bulgarian offender issued a directive for her execution aboard a yacht in the Ionian Sea, with allegations that her remains were dismembered and disposed of.
Alternative hearsay posits that Ignatova might indeed be evading capture, concealing herself in South Africa, Dubai, or conceivably even Russia.
John von Mirbach, a German documentary producer who helmed the investigative documentary titled “Crypto Queen – OneCoin Scam” in 2022, expresses skepticism regarding the assertions of Ignatova’s demise. In a dialogue with crypto.news, Mirbach conveyed his disbelief in the claims surrounding her death, citing an abundance of “unsuccessful endeavors to obscure her trail.”
> “I engaged in discussions with security personnel stationed in South Africa and Germany. Presently, an investigation is underway pertaining to her conceivable whereabouts within South Africa. However, nobody has managed to pinpoint her precise location. She might be situated in South Africa, Dubai, or—as you indicated—Russia or some other locale.”
However, I am still convinced that she is alive, since there have been too many unsuccessful attempts to falsify her path.” – John von Mierbach
Despite the enigma surrounding Ruja Ignatova’s location, the judicial epic continues. In June 2022, the FBI added her to its Top Ten Most Wanted list, initially offering $100,000 for details leading to her arrest. By June 2024, that bonus had increased to $5 million.
## Fresh Prospects
In August 2024, the High Court in London issued a global asset freeze targeting Ignatova and her partners. This came after reports that OneCoin promoters had invested in luxury real estate in the United Arab Emirates, including a $2.7 million penthouse in Dubai.
By the close of 2024, investigators had concentrated their search on Cape Town, South Africa, suspecting she might be living under a fake identity in an exclusive area.
However, a new report in November 2024 suggested Ignatova might be hiding in Russia. According to Christo Grozev, a journalist specializing in Kremlin affairs who worked with the investigative group Bellingcat, Ignatova has connections to people linked to the Russian government.
These connections were allegedly confirmed by Ignatova’s former security advisor, Frank Schneider, a former Swiss intelligence officer hired by OneCoin, who was later interviewed by Grozev for a BBC series.
Mierbach commented on the scope of the OneCoin fraud, saying that the cryptocurrency industry is not only a “fantastic area” for new business, but also a “fantastic area” for criminals to get “much more than simple analog fraud.”
“They can simply expand their scams to another level. The same mechanisms that facilitate and promote online/digital business drive online fraud. Thugs will also always enter unexplored and unregulated markets in the news and see what is happening.”
John von Mirbach mentioned he foresees the “initial AI-powered deceit” as fresh prospects surface. Essentially, with the escalation of AI, there’s an expanding apprehension regarding how it might be employed for artifices and misleading actions. Mirbach is emphasizing that we ought to be equipped for this novel category of swindle.
