Missing 'cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova resurfaces after 5 years in hiding: report

Ruja Ignatova Usa Britain New York Germany city London Greece Bulgaria UPS FIVE cryptocurrency

30.01.2023 - 07:19

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moneycontrol.com:

Ruja Ignatova, the Bulgarian fugitive behind the $4 billion fake cryptocurrency scam, is suspected to have resurfaced her London apartment was recently listed for sale, five years after she disappeared.

Ignatova, dubbed as the “cryptoqueen", had made headlines for being placed on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’ (FBI's) 10 most wanted fugitives list last year. The agency has put up a reward for her.

The 42-year-old German citizen was behind one of the most notorious scams in the frequently treacherous world of crypto currencies. She raised billions of dollars in a fraudulent virtual currency scheme.

Ruja Ignatova had gone missing in Greece in October 2017 around the time US authorities filed a sealed indictment and warrant for her arrest.

In 2014, she launched cryptocurrency scheme OneCoin which allowed her to collect more than four billion dollars through embezzlement.

Her apartment in London’s Kensington, plugged as the “ultimate penthouse”, was listed for $15.5 million ( £12.5 million) and later, the price was slashed to $13.6 million ( £11 million), the BBC and New York Post reported.

The house was reportedly bought by Ignatova under the name of a company instead of her own name. However, under a new transparency rule in the UK, the ultimate owner of a property must be publicly listed, or else, the property will not be sold in the country.

“The world’s most wanted woman is now officially listed as the ultimate beneficial owner of a London penthouse,” Jamie Bartlett, host of "The Missing Cryptoqueen" podcast, told iNews.

Gerald Ruebsam, a senior prosecutor in the Ignatova case, hopes any proceeds of the London penthouse sale compensate people scammed by Ignatova and her fake venture.