The Department of State has announced a reward offer under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Ruja Ignatova.
FBI New York, along with the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York and the IRS Criminal Investigation Newark Field Office, previously named Ruja Ignatova (a.k.a. “Cryptoqueen”) to the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in June 2022 for allegedly defrauding investors of billions of dollars.
A federal grand jury indicted Ignatova, and the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, issued a warrant for her arrest in October 2017. In February 2018, a superseding indictment was issued charging Ignatova with one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud; wire fraud; conspiracy to commit money laundering; conspiracy to commit securities fraud; and securities fraud.
Investigators say Ignatova allegedly took part in a large-scale fraud scheme. Beginning in approximately 2014, Ignatova and others are alleged to have defrauded billions of dollars from investors all over the world. Ignatova was the founder of OneCoin Ltd., a Bulgaria-based company that marketed a purported cryptocurrency. In order to execute the scheme, Ignatova allegedly made false statements and representations to individuals in order to solicit investments in OneCoin. She allegedly instructed victims to transmit investment funds to OneCoin accounts in order to purchase OneCoin packages, causing victims to send wire transfers representing these investments. Throughout the scheme, OneCoin is believed to have defrauded victims out of more than $4 billion. Ignatova served as OneCoin’s top leader through October 2017.
Ignatova traveled from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece on October 25, 2017, and may have traveled elsewhere after that. She may travel on a German passport to the United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, Greece, and/or Eastern Europe.
Anyone with information on Ignatova’s whereabouts, please contact the FBI via Telegram: @RujaReward, Signal: @RujaReward.01, online at tips.fbi.gov, or by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI. If you are located outside of the United States, you may also visit the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If in the United States, you can contact your local FBI office.
