A Bulgarian woman named Ruja Ignatova was placed on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list on Thursday. The woman, also known as ‘Crypto Queen’, raised billions of dollars by running a fraudulent virtual currency scheme. The move comes soon after Europol added her to its most-wanted list earlier this year.
“It’s an important tool for us, the top 10 list,” FBI Assistant Director Michael Driscoll told reporters during a news briefing on Thursday. “We think the public is in the best position to help.”
A $100,000 reward has been announced by the FBI for Ignatova. She disappeared in Greece in 2017 when US authorities issued a sealed indictment and warrant for her arrest. The 42-year-old German citizen ran one of the most notorious scams in the world of crypto currencies – One Coin.
Ignatova is wanted for her role in the scam as she used to scheme to defraud people out of more than $4 Billion. According to the BBC, OneCoin, a self-described cryptocurrency that beginning in around 2014 offered buyers commission if they sold the currency on to more people.
“She’s got a lot of money and she hit the road pretty quick,” Driscoll said.
According to CNBC, investigators say the Bulgarian-based project had no blockchain securing transactions and coins were essentially minted out of thin air. Bitcoin, by contrast, is secured by a global network of miners who maintain a public ledger, or blockchain.
Damian Williams, Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor said, “She timed her scheme perfectly, capitalising on the frenzied speculation of the early days of cryptocurrency.”
