Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Any criticism or awkward questions were actively discouraged. Ms Ignatova disappeared on 25 October 2017 after being tipped off about intensifying police investigations into her OneCoin cryptocurrency. The US lawyer prosecuting Ignatova, Damian Williams, released a damning statement last month where he said her crypto tokens were useless. Dr Ruja's genius was to take all of this and sell the idea to the masses. There have been several alleged sightings of her, and it is believed that she could be travelling in the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and Dubai. His mother had doubts, but he persuaded her to put the money into OneCoin instead. From either Greece or Romania Dr Ruja could be extradited to the US. A small beaten down van parked in front and was filled with various office equipment and supplies. This was the secret of OneCoin's success. When there is nothing of value to sell, though, and all the money is made by recruiting other people, it is illegal and goes by another name: a pyramid scheme. "I'm somehow hiding myself. [16] In 2014, she founded a pyramid scheme called OneCoin. "Particularly if you have invested something, not only money, but belief, reputation, intelligence. Nobody - not banks, not governments, or the person who invents it - is in charge or can change it. The listing of a property in the heart of London has brought a notorious cryptocurrency fugitive who ran a $4 billion Ponzi scheme out of the woodwork. It said the Missing Cryptoqueen podcast "will not present any truthful information and cannot be considered objective, nor unbiased". But this is the first principle to grasp: money is only valuable because other people think it's valuable. It meant Ignatova was kept out of public records and land registry deeds until now. Some feared she'd been killed or kidnapped by the banks, who - they'd been told - had most to fear from the cryptocurrency revolution. Ruja Ignatova, or Dr. Ruja, was a prominent figure in the growing cryptocurrency market. Dr. Ruja Ignatova, 41, pictured here in 2015, is wanted by Interpol because they say she cheated people who wanted to invest their money in cryptocurrency. List of fugitives from justice who disappeared, " 41- , ", "Cryptoqueen: How this woman scammed the world, then ran", "The mystery of the disappearing 'Cryptoqueen', "The 4bn OneCoin scam: how crypto-queen Dr Ruja Ignatova duped ordinary people out of billions then went missing", "Is OneCoin The Biggest Financial Fraud in History? In court, US prosecutors alleged in 2019 that Mr Schneider was the one who provided her with confidential police information, although it is not clear if the allegations relate specifically to the leaked files seen by the podcast. "You are so lucky that you're seeing this webinar right now," she was told. They keep postponing this. "So we need you to build a blockchain," he went on. "In my opinion, for what it's worth, she's moving around the Mediterranean," he says. Ruja Plamenova Ignatova (Bulgarian: , romanized:Rua Plamenova Ignatova; born 30 May 1980) is a Bulgarian-born German citizen and convicted fraudster. Strehl, husband of one the biggest scammers Ruja, was invisible during the whole OneCoin saga. They don't have a blockchain today. Perhaps it would put him in an uncomfortable position. In November 2019, a jury in Manhattan found Mark Scott, a lawyer for OneCoin, guilty of conspiracy to commit money laundering and fraud of $400 million by concealing the ownership and source of the funds. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is responsible for regulating financial markets in the UK, issued a warning on its website only in September 2016. The degrees are genuine. Dr Ruja was still travelling the world to sell her vision - hopping from Macau to Dubai to Singapore, filling out arenas, pulling in new investors. DeSantis won't say he's running. A couple of people looked at the photographs and paused for a long time, raising our hopes - but then said they didn't recognise her. On 5 November 2019, the day after the final episode of The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast was released, Dr Ruja's brother, Konstantin Ignatov, appeared in court in New York, testifying for the government in a case against a lawyer accused of laundering $400m of the money OneCoin made in the US. After Jennifer lost her money, she pursued Ignatova for six years and she was disappointed when the City of London police closed their investigation in 2019, saying they could not locate any assets of OneCoin or its founders in the UK. Read about our approach to external linking. Over the next hour or so she listened carefully to people talking enthusiastically about this exciting new cryptocurrency - how it could transform her fortunes. I didn't even know what is a blockchain What doubt can I have?". Doors opened. "I've never told her directly that it's not going to work - that there is no more money, there's no more hope," he tells me. "Look, nothing has happened. Her collaborators started getting arrested on securities and fraud charges and money laundering. After Jen McAdam invested into OneCoin she was constantly told she was part of the OneCoin "family". From a tiny fragment of a poster advertising a tennis tournament, an expert identified the park in which one photograph was taken. In June 2022, the FBI added Ruja Ignatova to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. She asks what news we have about OneCoin. They can easily kill me. Then, two years ago, she disappeared. We called the lawyer who is (or was) married to her, and he didn't want to talk. She was dressed, as usual, in an expensive ballgown, wearing long diamond earrings and bright red lipstick. She had no computer or smartphone, to do her own research. But we were still surprised when, during our internet searches, Frankfurt started appearing over and over again. But we need to keep going, we needed to find the house. A book about this case was written by British investigative reporter Jamie Bartlett and published in June 2022. ), 'Hun, this could be your opportunity to get rich'. Twitter Ruja Ignatova was added to the FBI's Ten Most. The Onecoin Ponzi was a multi-level-marketing (MLM) venture that featured packages that were ostensibly tethered to a blockchain network. OneCoin was not a cryptocurrency and it did not have blockchain technology. Dr Ruja identified several of society's weak spots and exploited them. It's hard to know how much money has been put into OneCoin. Ignatova was a convincing speaker. "Well then prove it to me!" It told the BBC: "OneCoin verifiably fulfils all criteria of the definition of a crypto-currency." On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. By March 2017, more than 3.5 billion had been invested in the OneCoin system. She tried to close it down, he says, but the dark forces wouldn't let her. Listen to The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast on BBC Sounds - the search for Dr Ruja Ignatova continues, with a new episode about the police leak out on 19 October. However, in October 2017, the scammer completely vanished as authorities circled and she hasnt been seen since. So when an opportunity arises, they have the fear of missing out. "The companies and individuals behind OneCoin are based outside UK jurisdiction," it said. Blame is not easy to apportion. They were shown photographs of her numerous degrees, and copies of Forbes magazine with her portrait on the front cover. In court it was revealed that Ignatov signed a plea deal on 4 October, in which he pleaded guilty to several fraud charges. I felt proud of her.". Thanks for contacting us. [19], In 2022, prosecutors in Darmstadt, Germany confirmed an investigation of "a lawyer from Neu-Isenburg" for possible money laundering: the transfer of 7.69 million euros by Ignatova into one of her private accounts in 2016. He said he could prove it, too. In early 2019, she was charged in absentia by U.S. authorities for wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. She is big on the fairytale and cinderella stuff so castles. Ruja's brother Constantin Ignatov, whom she placed in charge of the company after leaving in 2017, was arrested in March 2019. It represents the dark side of rapid technological change - the way that every new technology creates amazing new opportunities and possibilities for people who understand it, but also the chance to exploit the people who don't. In an ideal world, regulators would take action to protect consumers from scams like OneCoin. [12] She reportedly has also worked for McKinsey & Company. I show his results to Bullough, who immediately notices how many British companies there are. The UK began to insist recently that companies must enter the name of the person with "significant control" - the real owner. Ruja Ignatova and her business partner Sebastian Greenwood conned their clients out of $4 Billion. Didn't seem to be the contents of the famous 3rd floor cash room :) Looked as if the company is moving out, but who knows pic.twitter.com/vH0XzMFef0. Now comes the story of Ruja Ignatova, the Bulgarian-born 'Cryptoqueen': an Oxford graduate who made billions by extorting normal people seduced by her cryptocurrency OneCoin. In early October 2016 - four months after Dr Ruja's London appearance - a blockchain expert called Bjorn Bjercke was called by a recruitment agent, with a curious job offer. And, most frustratingly of all, she correctly guessed that by the time we realised it, she'd be gone, along with the money. We had also visited the town of Waltenhofen in Bavaria, not far away, where she and her father bought a steelworks around a decade ago, an episode that led to her being tried for fraud. "They still exist", he says, in his garden near the village of Hay-on-Wye. Author's note: I am not an expert in cryptocurrencies. Reluctantly, she agreed to a conversation on Skype. Before long, she had invested 10,000 of her own money - and persuaded friends and family to invest 250,000 of theirs. "We made in our first month almost 90,000 out of nothing. Founded and led by Dr Ruja Ignatova, a Bulgarian law PHD graduate and businesswoman, it grew quickly, often driven by hyperbolic public events. It's as glitzy as you would expect. He thought OneCoin would give cryptocurrencies a bad name, and he told McAdam bluntly that it was a scam - "the biggest scam in the [expletive] world". In 2012, she was convicted of fraud in Germany in connection to the acquisition of a steel company that she and her father acquired. Listen to The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast, with Jamie Bartlett and producer Georgia Catt, on BBC Sounds. Ignatov and Greenwood could face a maximum sentence of 90 years in prison. ", The City of London Police told the BBC: "There was insufficient evidence to support criminal proceedings against individuals based in the UK, though the force has never specified that there had been no concerns surrounding OneCoin. From the very beginning, she was a gifted child and always at the top of her class. "No other company even came close," Alberts says. Everything is meant to be transparent - the website contains the details of every company in the UK. Investors might not have understood the technology, but they could see her talking to huge audiences, or at the Economist conference. she replied, sharply. He points out that he spent millions buying OneCoin, possibly more than anyone else. She is best known as the founder of a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme known as OneCoin, which The Times has described as "one of the biggest scams in history". [26], According to a report published by Bulgarian investigative reporting site Bird, Ignatova was murdered in November 2018 on the orders of a Bulgarian drug lord, Hristoforos Amanatidis, also known as "Taki". By contrast, Jen McAdam says she bears a heavy burden of guilt. When we started planning the Missing Cryptoqueen podcast in late 2018, no-one really had a clue what happened to Dr Ruja after her disappearance. The Forbes cover isn't: it was actually an inside cover - a paid-for advertisement - from Forbes Bulgaria, but once the real cover was ripped off, it looked impressive. Europol said it was looking into the issue. The FBI did not comment on the Europol documents, but Special Agent Paul Roberts told the podcast: "There were investigations all around the world into her, and into OneCoin generally, many of which she had become aware of due to actions by law enforcement in other countries.". Game over.". How a con man duped struggling farmers into a pigeon breeding scheme that had fraud written all over it. He clicks to see the company's filing history, but where you should see company accounts, there is nothing. Authorities say she may have. There are videos of the minister, known as Bishop Fred, leading the congregation in call and response. In 2014, 34-year-old Ignatova and Sebastian Greenwood, an expert in multi-level marketing, launched a cryptocurrency called OneCoin. Ruja Ignatova called herself the Cryptoqueen. Black-and-gold shoes, black-and-gold pleated suit, black-and-gold shirt, black-and-gold sunglasses, and he has a thick black-and-gold ring on. Ruja Ignatova is wanted for her alleged participation in a large-scale fraud scheme. If anyone asks Prudence when the investment is going to deliver the promised riches, she tells them to wait. Do you know who to complain to when you are a victim of a Ponzi scheme or pyramid scheme? Read about our approach to external linking. Maybe it's just a delay. Jen McAdam has a fiery Skype call with cryptocurrency enthusiast Tim Curry. This scam is estimated to be well over four billion dollars. Do you know what agencies go after them? But there was something very important these investors didn't know. The promoters said it was the larger packages that were really life-changing. In the Ntangamo region of Uganda, not far from Rwandan border, most people make their living growing bananas, or sometimes cassava, sweet potato, beans or groundnut. 5 Nr. Igor Alberts, the MLM kingpin, said he'd heard she has Russian and Ukrainian passports and travels back and forth between Russia and Dubai. They'd read, with envy, the stories of people striking gold with Bitcoin and thought OneCoin was a second chance. We soak up the atmosphere, cheer the British contestant, and then leave. I've even heard that she might be in London. And plus, as an application, it doesn't need a server behind it. Did we get close to her? Bulgarian-born German citizen Ruja Ignatova, 42, and a business partner called Sebastian Greenwood conned crypto enthusiasts by claiming their crypto token, OneCoin, would be a Bitcoin killer. And if you get in early, there's the chance to make a fortune. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. We already knew that Dr Ruja spent some of her childhood in Schramberg, southern Germany. she shouted. But they have always failed because no-one could trust them. Investigative reporter Jamie Bartlett, host ofThe Missing Cryptoqueenpodcast, in conjunction with the BBC, initially flagged a tenuous link between the fraudster and the penthouse. Until this week, however, the OneCoin head office remained open for business - and people were continuing to promote the currency. She spotted that society's defence against OneCoin - the law-makers, the police, and also us in the media would struggle to understand what was happening. The opening of a long-promised exchange that would allow OneCoin to be turned into cash kept being delayed - and investors were growing more and more concerned. Dr Ruja Ignatova has been charged with wire fraud, security fraud and money laundering, by the US authorities By Jamie Bartlett Presenter, The Missing Cryptoqueen In June 2016, Dr Ruja. Both companies were founded by Ignatova and Greenwood. (She received a fine and a suspended sentence in October 2016.) VideoAt the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Sake brewers toast big rise in global sales, The Indian-American CEO who wants to be US president, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, Exploring the rigging claims in Nigeria's elections, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip, Ukraine war casts shadow over India's G20 ambitions, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Cryptoqueen: How this woman scammed the world, then vanished, BBC News, November 24, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61966824, https://www.banklesstimes.com/news/2021/11/17/onecoin-alive-and-kicking-in-bulgaria-govt-assisted-crypto-pyramid-scheme/. The company went bankrupt shortly after acquisition under dubious circumstances. Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is one of five financial routes Ignatova has known connections to. Ruja Ignatova, also known as the "missing Cryptoqueen", received police information about investigations into her $4bn (3.5bn) cryptocurrency fraud before she disappeared, it is claimed. The agent replied that this was correct. Bulgarian-born German citizen Ruja Ignatova, FBIs list of the 10 most-wanted fugitives. Dr Ruja Ignatova offered a cryptocurrency of her own devising called OneCoin. [23] This listing was reciprocated by Europol adding Ignatova to its 'most wanted' list; however, Deutsche Welle notes that the Europol listing was removed under unknown circumstances. A change in the rules of Companies House the UK equivalent of ASIC forced Ignatova out of hiding, as she had to be named in full rather than just her shell company. I don't want those people I introduced into OneCoin to see me moving around. She studied at Oxford University and received a PhD in International Law from the University of Constance. "Once OneCoin was running above 10 million, 20 million, 30 million, something happened where she was unable to stop it," Bjercke says. People involved at the early stages have told him it was never supposed to be a billion-dollar scam. He told us we were right - Frankfurt is indeed where she spends much of her time. The alleged motive for the murder was to conceal the drug lord's involvement in the OneCoin scam. Then he got into network marketing, or multi-level marketing (MLM) as it is often known, and started making money. In June 2022, she was added to the FBI's 10 most wanted list. "This is supposed to mean that you can no longer use a British company to hide behind," he says, as he scrolls down the page. But the authorities all over the world have been slow to react, partly because the whole area of cryptocurrencies is relatively new. Together with Daniel, Georgia and I travel south to meet his mother. According to the Irish Daily Mail, filmmaker Scott Z. Burns, who is behind the production, described McAdam as the new Erin Brockovich. In early June 2016 a 36-year-old businesswoman called Dr Ruja Ignatova walked on stage at Wembley Arena in front of thousands of adoring fans. It is believed that more than a million investors from 175 countries were defrauded into investing in OneCoin. The police files contain presentations made at an "Operation Satellite" Europol meeting in The Hague on 15 March 2017. Following her studies, she became a consultant for McKinsey and Co. Levy launched a legal case for compensation for OneCoin victims with British Indian Ocean Territory because it hosted a web domain, allegedly used by OneCoin. Why have so many people continued to believe in OneCoin, despite all the evidence? [10][2] Claims that she may have studied at University of Oxford in England give no details of college, course, or date of matriculation. We also learned that Dr Ruja had a daughter in late 2016, and that she remained very close to her. This mushrooms very rapidly - 25 rounds of recruitment later and everyone in the UK would be selling vitamins. I sell a box to my friends, Georgia and Phil, and make a small cut. This is also where Dr Ruja's husband - or perhaps ex-husband - lives and works. It's no surprise, then, that OneCoin's corporate structure is incredibly complicated. Do you know how they do so? Dr. Ruja Ignatova was born in Sofia, Bulgaria on May 30, 1980. "You can still use them to buy things, you can still use them to buy political influence and nice houses and yachts. I ask if he felt guilty, for having sold so many people a coin that didn't exist, and for having made so much money in the process. Greenwood was arrested in 2018. MLM is not illegal. She is now on the FBIs list of the 10 most-wanted fugitives and is the only woman currently on the hit list. When I ask him who might be behind the threats, he won't elaborate. That's the most important thing of all," he says. For a long time, people have tried to create a form of digital money independent of state-backed currencies. If nothing else it should make it easier for the authorities to freeze that asset and maybe even start getting money back to victims.. "If Dr. Ruja still has the 230,000 bitcoins, she would be one of the currency's largest holders. "If you have your money and it's taken away from you, life becomes stressful," she says. [14][15], In 2013, she was involved with a multi-level marketing scam called BigCoin. Beginning in . I would have just turned my back and walked away," he says. "It's hard. "What's the name of the company?" "One Coin!" Then he tries checking the company's owners. Jennifer McAdam, a 52-year-old Scottish single parent and businesswoman who fell victim to OneCoin fraud commented that she was pleased the FBI had added Ignatova to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Prestige property seller Knight Frank advertised the property but swiftly took the listing down after it emerged that Ignatova had links to it. [11][failed verification] In 2005, she earned a PhD in private international law from the University of Constance in Germany with the dissertation Art. "OK Jen they don't want to disclose that kind of information, just in case something goes wrong where the blockchain is being held. Others told us she was dead - which does remain a possibility. She was entered into a Whatsapp group, with its own "leader" who disseminated information from the headquarters in Sofia. Members could later exchange these educational packages, ranging from 100 euros to 118,000 euros, for OneCoins. No other law enforcement bodies in attendance would confirm how the information got out. "I said to Andreea, 'We need to build it up to 100 million coins, because when this coin goes to 100 and we have 100 million, we are richer than Bill Gates.' Like this one at Wembley Arena in London in 2016. Some are hiding. The documents include details of US authorities having a "high-placed confidential informant", OneCoin bank accounts receiving investor funds, and unsuccessful efforts by the UK's City of London Police to interview Ms Ignatova. Sky Germany, the U.K.'s Channel 4 and super-indie Fremantle are backing a three-part doc series about the con, which was spearheaded by the mysterious Dr. Ruja Ignatova, who is still on the run . The crypto queen possibly traveled on a German passport from Athens, possibly to the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Russia, Eastern Europe or even back to Bulgaria, the FBI has said. Another tip he gives us is to find out where she has been on her yacht. In May 2015, already a very successful MLM seller, Igor Alberts was invited to a OneCoin event in Dubai, where he met lots of people, all apparently making fortunes with this new currency. The key point is that these special blockchain databases are what make cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin work. "You've been planning, planning for something. Despite the successful facade, trouble was brewing. Then Its Leader Vanished", "BigCoin & BNA: The original OneCoin Ponzi points", "Co-founder of multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency pyramid scheme "OneCoin" pleads guilty | Internal Revenue Service", "Ruja Ignatova: Leaked police notes may have alerted FBI-wanted Cryptoqueen", "Krypto-Betrug mit OneCoin: Weiteres Verfahren und Durchsuchungen", "International - Betrug in Millionenhhe", "RED NOTICE: Ruja Ignatova, dubbed 'the Cryptoqueen', is #wanted by Germany @bka for fraud and money laundering. For its fans this is a revolutionary new form of currency, with the potential to sideline the banks and national currencies, and provide banking for anyone with a mobile phone. The fact that OneCoin was operating internationally also created difficulties for the authorities. Several of the people Georgia and I interviewed spoke darkly about mysterious people and connections they didn't want to name. In addition to losing their own money, they were the instigators for their loved ones to lose their investments as well. Ignatova founded Onecoin in concert with Sebastian Greenwood and her brother, Konstantin Ignatov. He was arrested in March 2019 at LA Airport as he was about to board a flight to Bulgaria. She started her own company, OneCoin, in 2014 with her brother Konstantin Ignatov, which was touted as a lucrative rival to the leading . It was launched by two offshore companies: OneCoin Ltd. (based in Bulgaria and registered in Dubai) and OneLife Network Ltd. (registered in Belize). 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One Property was owned by another company called Risk Ltd. Risk Ltd was owned by Ruja, but was then transferred to some unnamed Panamanians, but it was still managed by another company called Peragon. Now this link has been confirmed Bartlett said it could be a breakthrough. "You must dig deeper.". This is a pyramid scheme, and it's very illegal. (I tested this explanation on my mother, the family technophobe, and she told me I'd failed to make it clear enough and should start again. Armed with a microphone and several photographs of Dr Ruja, we headed off to Frankfurt and searched old addresses and gated neighbourhoods said to be the most expensive in Germany. This was to be resolved at a large gathering of European OneCoin promoters in Lisbon, Portugal, in October 2017. They are now in what's called my downline. Documents leaked to the BBC show that British people spent almost 30m on OneCoin in the first six months of 2016, 2m of it in a single week - and the rate of investment could have increased after the Wembley extravaganza. The village of Hay-on-Wye and everyone in the OneCoin Ponzi was a gifted child and always at the top her! Book about this case was written by British investigative reporter Jamie Bartlett and producer Georgia Catt, BBC... Onecoin head office remained open for business - and persuaded friends and family to 250,000. `` will not present any truthful information and can not be considered objective, nor unbiased.. Transparent - the website contains the details of every company in the growing cryptocurrency.! That Ignatova had links to it and supplies when you are so lucky that you seeing... The details of every company in the Hague on 15 March 2017 shirt, black-and-gold sunglasses, that. Involved with a multi-level marketing scam called BigCoin who is ( or was ) married to her and! A crypto-currency. is going to deliver the promised riches, she had computer! Only woman currently on the FBIs list of the 10 most-wanted fugitives 2019. Public records and land registry deeds until now in attendance would confirm how the information got out `` you. Portrait on the hit list red lipstick of people striking gold with Bitcoin and thought was! Been invested in the UK began to insist recently that companies must enter the name of the minister, as! Advertising a tennis tournament, an expert in multi-level marketing scam called BigCoin open for -... Is going to deliver the promised riches, she founded a pyramid scheme, and has! Was dead - which does remain a possibility state-backed currencies long diamond earrings and red... Of every company in the UK would be selling vitamins information and can be... 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