Ruja Ignatova (the missing crypto queen) was born on May 30, 1980. She is a Bulgarian convicted fraudster. She is best known for the foundation of the Ponzi scheme known as OneCoin. The Time described this scheme as “one of the biggest scams in history”. She was the subject of 2019 The Missing Crypto Queen.
Since 2017, she has been on the escape from the law, especially the FBI. In early 2019, she was accused in absentia by U.S. authorities of fraud & money laundering.
Early life and education
Ruja Ignatova was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. At the age of ten years, she migrated to Germany with her family and spent part of her childhood in Schramberg in the state of Baden-Württemberg. In 2005, she did a Ph.D. in European private law from the University of Constance. She has also worked in McKinsey & Company.
Criminal activities
In 2012, she was doomed to fraud in Germany with her father Plamen Ignatov. Her father was an acquisitor of a company that afterward was announced bankrupt. She was given a punishment of 14 months’ custody.
In 2013, she got involved in a multi-level marketing scam called BigCoin. She founded a Ponzi scheme called OneCoin in 2014. In 2017, she disappeared suddenly. In 2019, her brother Konstantin Ignatov declared guilt for fraud and money laundering.
$4B Ponzi Scheme OneCoin and ‘CryptoQueen’ Leader Found Defaulter in US Lawsuit
Ruga Ignatova and her company failed to acknowledge the case. She elected herself as “CryptoQueen,” and the firm “OneCoin” has been found in defaulter.
In May 2019, the case started with Ignatova and OneCoin indicted of frauding more than $4 billion in millions in a Ponzi-like scheme.
Recent documents show that Ignatova is wanted by the U.S. and other authorities after disappearing in late 2017.
