FBI Increases Reward for Ruja Ignatova: The Crypto Queen
The FBI has increased its reward from $4 million to $5 million USD, or about Rs 416,821,750 in Indian currency, for information that leads to the arrest of Ruja Ignatova, popularly known as the “Crypto Queen.” The FBI has included Ignatova, a former CEO of a cryptocurrency corporation, among its top ten most wanted individuals due to her suspected role in defrauding OneCoin of more than $4 billion.
The Rise of OneCoin
A well-known personality in the cryptocurrency space, Ruja Ignatova established OneCoin in 2014 with the intention of competing with Bitcoin. During its height, OneCoin asserted that it had received investments from up to 3 million people around the world, including the United States.
Legal Troubles and Escape
Still, Ignatova’s luck completely shifted when she got into trouble with the law. After she escaped from Greece in 2017, the US authorities filed an arrest order for her. She is charged with planning a large-scale fraud scheme between 2014 and 2016, possibly in collaboration with the Bulgarian mafia.
Charges Against Ignatova
Apart from her claimed role in billion-dollar fraud, Ignatova is also charged with enabling the coin sales to her personal friends, in which original investors received rewards for bringing in new ones, and early investors received money from funds obtained from later investors.
Background and Academic Achievements
Ignatova has previously studied academically and worked for a respected private company. But because of her present fugitive status and her suspected criminal activity, she has become well-known as one of the FBI’s most wanted people.
Prosecutor’s Statement
Top prosecutor in New York, US Attorney Damian Williams, said, “Ignatova and her partners scammed dumb customers of billions of dollars by falsely claiming that OneCoin would be the ‘Bitcoin killer.‘ Actually, OneCoins have no value at all. CNN stated that “(Their) lies were created with the sole intention of convincing common people worldwide to part with their hard-earned money.”
ALSO READ: A 23-year-old former banker explains how she used AI to earn over ₹208,426,135.
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