New Delhi: Crypto owners have been the wealth generators recently, but they can also land up on the Most Wanted List of investigative agencies. Dr Ruja Ignatova is one such self-styled ‘cryptoqueen’ who has come under lens over alleged defrauding users of more than $4 billion.
Reports suggest the Bulgaria-born founded OneCoin cryptocurrency company in 2014 and then used it to deceive and defraud crypto investors.
The US investigative agency has also announced a $1,00,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of Ignatova. The self-styled cryptoqueen went missing in 2017. Notably, she is the only 11th woman to get listed in the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitive list in 72 year history.
About the crypto scam
The entire web of corruption knitted by Ruja Ignatova is yet to be unearthed. Probe agencies have found that she established a crypto coin named OneCoin Ltd in 2014 and marketed it as a ‘bitcoin killer’. According to agencies, Ignatova used the enterprise to tap & befool new & gullible investors who didn’t have good knowledge of the crypto markets.
Her company received huge amount of funds from naive investors. The company had 3 million subscribers spreading over 100 countries. Reports suggest that the company made moolah between 2014 to 2016 by generating a whopping $3.35 billion in sales revenue.
How the cryptoqueen deceived investors
A large of numbers spanning many countries are at the receiving end of scam that began with her firm – OneCoin. The company used to spread false & fake information to convince customers about the cyrptocurrencies & associated benefits.
It claimed that the coin was ‘mined’ through mining servers and its value was based on supply & mind but in reality, the OneCoin was never mined at all. There was no market control and hence completely determined by Ignatova & her co-conspirators.