The US government recently announced a huge reward of up to $5 million for any information leading to the arrest of OneCoin founder Ruja Ignatova.
This development comes as Bulgarian and US authorities are conducting a joint investigation into a large-scale financial fraud and money laundering scheme.
Borislav Sarafov, the interim chief prosecutor of Bulgaria, emphasized the collaborative efforts of Bulgarian and US law enforcement agencies in handling the case. Sarafov highlighted the ongoing investigations into Ignatova, who is facing charges related to the notorious OneCoin financial pyramid scheme.
Additionally, Sarafov revealed plans to file legal proceedings in Bulgaria aimed at trying Ignatova in absentia and facilitating the seizure of assets obtained through illegal means.
US Ambassador Kenneth Merten emphasized the seriousness of the charges against Ignatova, calling the OneCoin scheme one of the largest frauds in history. It is alleged that the victims of this scheme were defrauded of over $4 billion.
Plamen Tonchev, the director of Bulgaria’s State Agency for National Security (SANS), elucidated Ignatova’s role in the OneCoin scheme, referring to it as a “fraudulent financial operation” similar to a pyramid scheme.
The rise and fall of OneCoin
The story of OneCoin dates back to 2014, when Ruja Ignatova founded the company, claiming its functionality was similar to any other cryptocurrency. However, it was revealed that there was no real OneCoin blockchain model or payment system.
As problems and investigations began to arise in multiple countries, some labeled it as a Ponzi scheme and the credibility of OneCoin began to crumble.
In March 2016, the Norwegian Direct Selling Association was the first to condemn the fraud as a Ponzi scheme, and in May of the same year, the Hungarian Central Bank issued a warning.
In 2017, OneCoin falsely claimed to be the first company licensed by the Vietnamese government for use as a digital currency, a claim immediately refuted by Vietnam. The following year, Bulgarian police raided OneCoin’s offices, leading to Ignatova’s disappearance when an arrest warrant was issued.
Ignatova’s brother, Konstantin Ignatov, subsequently took over leadership of the company, and co-founder Sebastian Greenwood was arrested in 2018. Konstantin himself was arrested in November 2019 and later admitted to fraud and money laundering charges.
Ignatova has been on the run since fleeing from Sofia to Athens in 2017 to evade arrest, and in 2022, she was added to the FBI’s top 10 most wanted list.
