Following an alleged $4 billion OneCoin fraud, the FBI adds “Cryptoqueen” to its list of the ten most wanted fugitives.
From the FBI list to Cryptoqueen
The Southern District of New York United States Attorney’s Office, the local Newark IRS Criminal Investigation office, and the FBI in New York took the lead in this operation. A reward of up to $100,000 was also provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for any information that resulted in her capture. The FBI has added Ruja Ignatova to its list of ten most sought individuals.
Ignatova was placed under custody at that time by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York after being charged by a federal grand jury in October 2017. In an additional complaint that was issued in February 2018, Ignatova was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, securities fraud, and securities fraud conspiracy.
Ignatova is just the 11th woman to be included on this list in the 72-year history of the FBI.
- The Special Investigative Agent Ronald Shimko said in a statement on Thursday that “there are so many victims around the world who have been financially crushed by this case.” “We intend to prosecute her.”
Ignatova was added to the Southern District of New York’s list of wanted fugitives, which was revealed at a news conference on Thursday morning.
The deputy director of the FBI in charge of the New York office, Mike Driscoll, expressed his “confidence” that they would finally find her. Ignatova is described as “an international fugitive who allegedly staged a global fraud” by Damian Williams, the attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Ignatova “is now on the list of the 10 greatest criminals, among cartel bosses, killers, and terrorists,” Mr. Williams added.
Returning to the case’s twists and turns
Konstantin Ignatov, the cryptoqueen’s brother, was detained at the Los Angeles airport in March 2019 without his sister. He might spend up to 90 years behind bars, and at his hearing, he primarily blamed his sister.
A while later, it was Karl Sebastian Greenwood, the OneCoin marketing manager, who had to deal with American authorities as part of his indictment.
Additionally, Ruja Ignatova’s personal attorney, Mark Scott, was expelled from the Bar after she was found guilty of money laundering.
With all these twists and turns, a Hollywood film based on the unpublished book Fake, co-written by one of the scam victims, was anticipated to be made about this scamcoin.
