Greek law enforcement agencies have recently been trying to locate Ruja Ignatova, the founder of the notorious Onecoin pyramid scheme. According to a major Greek daily, investigators acted on information suggesting that she is still in the country. Ignatova, also known as the “Crypt Queen,” was last seen boarding a plane to Greece several years ago.
Athens authorities try to find the “missing crypto queen” who flew to Greece five years ago
Greece was the setting for the latest episode of the search for Ruja Ignatova, one of the co-founders of the infamous crypto pyramid Onecoin. The country is believed to be the last destination she visited before her disappearance nearly five years ago.
Dubbed the “Cryptoqueen,” Ignatova has been missing since October 25, 2017, when she boarded a Ryanair flight to Athens in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. She is currently wanted by Interpol, Europol, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for misappropriating at least $4 billion from investors in fake cryptocurrency projects.
Citing Greek police (EL.AS.) sources, the newspaper Kathimerini reported this week that Greek authorities had received information obtained locally and from abroad indicating that Ignatova was in Greece and meeting with certain persons.
Less than a month ago, EL.AS. launched a special operation to take her into custody. However, despite an aggressive search operation, agents were unable to confirm the information they had and were unable to capture her, a major Greek daily revealed.
When the FBI added Ignatova to its most wanted list, it said she may have traveled on a fraudulent passport and may have visited the United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, Greece, and Eastern Europe, and that she has known connections She revealed.
According to police sources in Kathimerini, 12 countries are currently working closely together to locate her and are actively exchanging material on the case. The investigation continues in full force and, in fact, law enforcement agencies are making efforts to tighten their noose on the crypto-queen.
The global pursuit of the masterminds behind the Onecoin pyramid continues
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The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the only woman among the top 10 fugitives in the ranking; in mid-May, Ruja Ignatova is also Europe’s most wanted by Europol, and the International Criminal Police Organization has likewise accompanied the reward Red Notices have been issued.
Onecoin’s co-founder is now considered one of the world’s most mysterious fraudsters, the newspaper notes; 42-year-old Ignatova was born to Bulgarian Roma parents, but when she was only 10 years old her family emigrated to Germany, where she also became a German citizen.
Ruja graduated from Oxford University in 2005 and later earned a PhD in private international law from the University of Konstanz. She reportedly worked for the management consulting firm McKinsey&Company, but her shadow career began before that. Although she reportedly worked for the Company, her shadow career began before 2012, when she was convicted of fraud in connection with the acquisition of a bankrupt company and received a 14-month suspended sentence.
The following year, after a brief involvement in a multi-level marketing scam called Big Coin, in 2014 Ignatova created the Onecoin pyramid scheme, a supposed blockchain-based cryptocurrency touted as a “Bitcoin killer” and “a lured investors with the promise of a “financial revolution. She operated and promoted the project with her partner Sebastian Greenwood, who is currently incarcerated in the United States, and her brother Konstantin Ignatov, who sought witness protection after his arrest in LA in 2019.
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