Investigators in Germany are exploring the possibility that Ruja Ignatova, one of the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives and the alleged mastermind behind the notorious OneCoin cryptocurrency fr@ud, may still be alive.
This revelation comes as authorities reassess earlier claims of her d3ath.
The 44-year-old German national, often referred to as the “Cryptoqueen,” has been missing since October 2017 when she vanished after boarding a low-cost flight from Bulgaria to Athens.
Initially believed to have been murd3r3d, recent inquiries suggest that the story of her demise may not hold up under scrutiny.
Alongside Ignatova’s case is that of Frank Schneider, her former security officer and a one-time Luxembourg intelligence officer, who is also evading capture after fleeing house arr3st in France last year.
OneCoin, which was touted as a revolutionary cryptocurrency, turned out to be a colossal Ponzi scheme that defrauded millions of investors worldwide, estimated by the public prosecutor’s office in Bielefeld, Germany, to be around three million victims.
The victims received little in return for their investments, which primarily consisted of worthless strategies and costly financial management courses.
Despite being a fugitive, Ignatova has remained on the FBI’s wanted list, with a reward for her capture escalating from $100,000 to an impressive $5 million.
Investigators now believe that her connections may lead to locations in Cape Town, South Africa, popular among wealthy Bulgarians in exile.
Crucial to this investigation is new evidence that disputes earlier claims she was k!lled by associates in the Bulgarian underworld.
Researchers from Westdeutscher Rundfunk, working on a documentary titled “Die Kryptoqueen,” found that the alleged h!tman was imprisoned in the Netherlands at the time of her supposed murder, casting doubt on the validity of those charges.
A spokesperson for Germany’s State Office of Criminal Investigation, Sabine Dässel, indicated, “We are working with the hypothesis that Ruja Ignatova is still alive.”
Additionally, a former employee disclosed that Ignatova’s brother, Konstantin, reportedly continued to communicate with her via phone even after her disappearance.
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Meanwhile, Frank Schneider’s whereabouts remain elusive after he escaped house arrest to evade extradition to the United States, where he faces serious charges including conspiring to warn accomplices of impending investigations.
His trail has led authorities across multiple countries, including Dubai and New Zealand, where he engaged in real estate transactions.
While Ignatova remains at large, several of her associates have faced legal consequences. OneCoin co-founder Sebastian Greenwood is serving a 20-year sentence in the U.S., while other accomplices have received varying prison sentences for their roles in the fraud.
In a related note, Pitt Arens, another Luxembourger who briefly served as OneCoin’s CEO, distanced himself from the allegations of the scheme’s illegitimacy, labeling them as negative propaganda before resigning in 2017.
As the search for Ignatova continues, the case remains a prominent example of the complexities surrounding cryptocurrency scams in a fast-evolving financial landscape.
