He has been missing since 2017, when he was last seen boarding a flight from Bulgaria to Greece.
The “queen of cryptocurrencies” is in the “Top 10” of the list of the most wanted people of the FBI (US Federal Bureau of Investigation) Rutza Ignatova.
The Bulgarian national, about 40 years old, is wanted for the role she allegedly played through the cryptocurrency company OneCoin, which she founded, detaching from her victims at least $ 4 billion.
She has been missing since 2017, when US officials signed an arrest warrant and investigators were close to arresting her. He was last seen boarding a flight from Bulgaria in GREECE.
In 2014, OneCoin began offering buyers commissions if they sold the currency to more people.
But FBI agents say OneCoin had no value, and was never protected by blockchain technology used by other cryptocurrencies. According to the federal prosecutors, it was essentially one “Ponzi Shape” (investment “pyramid”) disguised as a cryptocurrency.
“She coordinated her plan perfectly, capitalizing on the frantic speculation of the early days of cryptocurrency,” said Damian Williams, Manhattan’s attorney general.
The FBI adds fugitives to its list of most wanted when it believes the general public may be able to help locate them.
An FBI alert released Thursday offered a $ 100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the 40-year-old, who was charged in 2019 with eight counts, including money laundering and securities fraud.
She is the only woman which holds the not at all enviable position in the list of 10 most wanted by the FBI.
BBC researcher Jamie Bartlett points out that one of the reasons Ignatova is so difficult to locate is that she disappeared with at least half a billion dollars something that helps her slip out of the law.
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