Elusive ‘CryptoQueen’ may be hiding in Russia

OneCoin founder Ruja Ignatova, aka “CryptoQueen,” may be hiding out in Russia to avoid extradition and criminal charges, according to the BBC.

An investigative journalist stated that Ignatova likely fled to Russia sometime after her disappearance in 2017 and has been residing in the country ever since.

The missing ‘CryptoQueen’ started a multi-billion dollar pyramid scheme called OneCoin in 2014. Through international marketing by an army of supporters, OneCoin defrauded investors of approximately $4 billion. When authorities came knocking, Ignatova disappeared and her whereabouts or condition were unknown at the time of publication.

Ignatova’s former security adviser, Frank Schneider, allegedly said that the OneCoin founder had ties to Kremlin officials.

Former Bellingcat researcher Yoran Tsalov also reportedly claimed that OneCoin’s financial backer was traced to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Tsalov estimated that Ignatova laundered millions on behalf of Yanukovych, who was known as a pro-Russian leader.

Yanukovych is currently living in exile in Russia after Ukraine’s top courthouse found him guilty of treason and sentenced him in absentia to 13 years in prison.

That Ignatova was hiding in Russia was one of many theories about her disappearance. Last week, German researchers suggested that OneCoin’s CryptoQueen had fled to South Africa. As crypto.news reported, German detectives cited evidence and findings to suggest that Ignatova had moved to a popular area in Cape Town that is notorious for harboring foreign criminals.

His brother Konstantin visited Cape Town several times after his disappearance, further raising suspicions. When the FBI arrested Konstantin, Konstantin revealed that CryptoQueen had spent more than $630 million to finance an escape and purchase new fake identities.

Konstantin spent three years in a US prison cell after cooperating with American authorities to expose the OneCoin Ponzi.

Bulgarian police said Ignatova may have been killed, murdered on a yacht and thrown into the Ionian Sea. His exact fate remained a mystery, but the authorities’ hunt continued. In June, the US State Department put up a $5 billion bounty for any information leading to his capture.

Meanwhile, the hammer of judgment fell on other OneCoin conspirators. OneCoin’s former legal and compliance chief Irina Dilkinska was sentenced to four years in prison. Another lawyer, Mark Scott, was sentenced to ten years in prison in January.