How did the Queen of OneCoin Cryptocurrency Escape Arrest for 7 Years?

In life and in 'death', Ruja Ignatova continues to confuse many people. The founder of OneCoin, also known as the 'Cryptoqueen', has been on the run and disappeared without a trace around 2017, never to be seen or heard from again. Ignatova is the only woman on the FBI's top 10 most wanted list. The Bulgarian woman, believed to be in her late 40s, is wanted for her role in OneCoin, a cryptocurrency scam she co-founded in September 2014. The FBI accuses Ignatova of defrauding OneCoin participants $4.5 billion. This scheme has all the hallmarks of a Ponzi. It uses network marketing and commissions to become popular. Anyone who introduces new buyers to the platform receives a commission. The cryptocurrency queen 'defeats' investigators Seven years after the last known sighting of Ignatova, the chance of finding her seems very fragile as she continues to evade capture. There are some theories about the current whereabouts of the Crypto Queen. One hypothesis is that she is living a luxurious life in Dubai or somewhere in Southeast Asia, possibly in Thailand. This is suggested by a special BBC podcast released by Jamie Bartlett in October 2022. At that time, the BBC obtained documents showing that Ignatova had worked with Sheikh Faisal bin Sultan Al Qassimi, a royal member of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to release frozen funds suspected of money laundering. According to the podcast, Ignatova is said to have bought a $20 million villa in the UAE, where she may have been hiding for over half a decade. BBC also discovered that she had reached a multimillion-dollar deal with Emirati royal Sheik Saoud, a famous cryptocurrency enthusiast. In 2015, he is believed to have sold 230,000 Bitcoins worth $2.25 billion at the current price to Ignatova. At that time, BTC was valued at nearly $48 million. There are suggestions that Ignatova bought intelligence information from the Bulgarian police. Observers say that could be the reason she has evaded investigators for seven years, according to the BBC. 'Murder' is the worst crime Another hypothesis is that the Crypto Queen was murdered on the orders of a dangerous Bulgarian drug lord she hired to protect herself, according to a BBC investigation released in June this year. Ignatova's mafia bodyguard accomplices believe that he killed her because of the unwanted attention her case brought to him, reports said.

According to the BBC, the Crypto Queen paid Amanatidis, a drug trafficker allegedly involved in armed robberies and murders, around $100,000 a month for protection. Amanatidis is also known by the nickname 'Taki.' Dimitar Stoyanov, a Bulgarian investigative journalist, was the first to report on this murder along with his colleagues in 2022, and shared with the television station: "Some people have to be removed because they know too much about Taki. It was a kind of public execution that looked more like a statement. Be careful who you trade with."

Stoyanov's 2022 report for the Bird.bg news agency mentioned a report obtained by the police from the home of a murdered Bulgarian police officer in 2022. The report details the police informant's account of Taki's brother-in-law being drunk saying that Ignatova was killed on Taki's orders in late 2018. The report adds that after this alleged murder, Ignatova's body was dismembered into pieces and thrown from a yacht in the Ionian Sea. Bulgarian officials have confirmed the authenticity of police documents to the BBC. Bird's reporter Stoyanov pointed out the likelihood of the story, but also the possibility that the report was planted to allay concerns about Crypto Queen's record. A close ally of Taki named Krasimir Kamenov was reportedly reported to the CIA in 2022 about Taki and his responsibility for the killing of Ignatova. A year later, he was killed in Cape Town, South Africa, along with his wife and two associates, a case also related to Taki. The body of Ignatova has never been found, and Taki, who is suspected by the EU law enforcement agency Europol of using the OneCoin financial network to launder drug money, has never been arrested for murder allegations. In fact, another perspective suggests that both Taki and Ignatova are living in Dubai. Sources told the BBC that the two have a close personal relationship and Taki is the godfather to Ignatova's daughter. Ruja Ignatova may now be a man In November 2022, TradingPedia speculates that the Crypto Queen has changed gender to avoid attention, according to another hypothesis. This platform has disclosed a list of eight facial templates that Ignatova may have used as part of her strategy to evade enforcement of her legal responsibilities. A draft shows she may currently be a man, with short hair and a beard.

It's difficult to come up with one theory that is the most accurate. However, some people do not exclude the possibility that Ignatova is still alive. Brian McColl, an analyst at TradingPedia who led the research on Ignatova, previously said her pursuit of the FBI and Europol showed the agencies believed the scammer was still alive. German police: 'No murder case. She is still alive' This opinion is supported by the German authorities. According to a report published by the German newspaper Der Spiegel earlier this month, Ignatova may still be alive and living in a wealthy area in Cape Town, South Africa, under the strict protection of private security companies. The report states that German police have found inconsistencies in the evidence against Taki, the former security director of Ignatova. German authorities have been investigating the OneCoin fraud case and Ignatova for many years. Ignatova also holds German citizenship. Police refute the theory of Ignatova's death, pointing to evidence that her accused killer was detained in the Netherlands when the 'murder' was said to have occurred. Details will be revealed in an upcoming documentary. According to a report by Der Spiegel, Sabine Dässel, spokesperson for the German criminal investigation unit LKA Düsseldorf, said: "We believe or work on the hypothesis that Ruja Ignatova is still alive. This is also supported by the reactions within her family, whom Ignatova always keeps in close contact with. Her daughter and sister are not mourned by family members, so it is clear that there is no information about Ruja Ignatova's death in the family. No murder case. She is still alive, period." Dässel also added that the police have received information indicating that Ignatova is hiding in Cape Town. German filmmaker Johan von Mirbach, who is making a documentary about Ignatova, said his team has received information about her whereabouts from security sources in South Africa. The police are also relying on the testimony of former OneCoin employee Duncan Arthur, who denies allegations of Ignatova's death. Arthur claimed that Ignatova remained in contact with her brother Konstantin for a long time after she was accused of being murdered, Der Spiegel reported. Better than Bitcoin Ruja Ignatova has attracted millions of investors without a doubt by marketing OneCoin as an alternative solution to Bitcoin that will reward early adopters. This Oxford graduate has sold a Ponzi scheme that does not use public digital ledgers like legitimate cryptocurrencies. Five years after OneCoin's launch in 2014, the Cryptocurrency Queen fled from Sofia to Athens as US and German authorities closed in to dismantle her pyramid scheme. She has since disappeared from radar, although her accomplices continue to be arrested and extradited. The FBI is offering a $5 million reward for anyone with information leading to her arrest. Ignatova is a criminal mastermind. A mystery.