This was the secret of OneCoin's success. Following her studies, she became a . "No other company even came close," Alberts says. "And in that sense it's cultic.". Over the next hour or so she listened carefully to people talking enthusiastically about this exciting new cryptocurrency - how it could transform her fortunes. Aliases: Dr. Ruja Ignatova, Ruja Plamenova Ignatova, Ruja P. Ignatova, "CryptoQueen" Date(s) . 2023 BBC. Ruja Ignatova celebrating her birthday with her husband and OneCoin members. Over the next several weeks, Curry sent a stream of information about how cryptocurrencies work: links, articles, YouTube videos. The documents show attendees from Bulgaria's Interior Ministry at the March 2017 Europol meeting. The US lawyer prosecuting Ignatova, Damian Williams, released a damning statement last month where he said her crypto tokens were useless. There's a famous saying in journalism, "Follow the money." Up to 90 years for the Ponzi scheme. A change in the rules of Companies House the UK equivalent of ASIC forced Ignatova out of hiding, as she had to be named in full rather than just her shell company. There were rumours of course - lots of them. Unlike Ignatova, however, he didnt stay free for very long. But though she has stopped recruiting, many others haven't, and there are still plenty of interested buyers, she says. Jamie Bartlett spent months investigating how she did it for the Missing Cryptoqueen podcast, and trying to figure out where she's hiding. [21][22] An Interpol Red Notice followed. ", "Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Charges Against Leaders Of "OneCoin," A Multibillion-Dollar Pyramid Scheme Involving The Sale Of A Fraudulent Cryptocurrency", "BKA - Fahndung nach Personen - Ruja IGNATOVA", https://moneyweek.com/economy/people/605142/ruja-ignatova-profile-crooked-cryptoqueen, "The Outrageous Case of OneCoin, the Billion Dollar Scam Sold as a "Bitcoin Killer", "Cryptoqueen: How this woman scammed the world, then vanished", "OneCoin Took In Billions. VIA HACHETTE BOOKS. In 2020, it was announced that Jennifer McAdam will be portrayed by Kate Winslet in an upcoming Hollywood film about the OneCoin fraud. Then, two years ago, she disappeared. On 6 March 2019 Konstantin Ignatov was at Los Angeles International airport, waiting to fly back to Bulgaria after some OneCoin meetings in the US. "What's the name of the company?" I will double your coins, I will double your coins. Lots of money. It seemed like easy money. But it is controversial, because usually only a small number of people make all the money. Ruja Ignatova is wanted for her alleged participation in a large-scale fraud scheme. When investors became members promoting OneCoin, they were getting a percentage margin on the proceeds from the people they had introduced and persuaded to invest in the company. (She received a fine and a suspended sentence in October 2016.) Cryptoqueen: How this woman scammed the world, then vanished, BBC News, November 24, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61966824, https://www.banklesstimes.com/news/2021/11/17/onecoin-alive-and-kicking-in-bulgaria-govt-assisted-crypto-pyramid-scheme/. The company went bankrupt shortly after its acquisition. "OK Jen they don't want to disclose that kind of information, just in case something goes wrong where the blockchain is being held. Ignatovas associates havent been as lucky. "I'm devastated for all the UK victims," Jen McAdam told me, when she heard the news. Any criticism or awkward questions were actively discouraged. Those events were packed and organized like rock concerts. It represents the dark side of rapid technological change - the way that every new technology creates amazing new opportunities and possibilities for people who understand it, but also the chance to exploit the people who don't. ", The City of London Police told the BBC: "There was insufficient evidence to support criminal proceedings against individuals based in the UK, though the force has never specified that there had been no concerns surrounding OneCoin. Igor Alberts is wearing black-and-gold everything. Investors might not have understood the technology, but they could see her talking to huge audiences, or at the Economist conference. Charles Ponzi is remembered for creating the Ponzi scheme. He points out that he spent millions buying OneCoin, possibly more than anyone else. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. His wife, Andreea Cimbala, nods along, adding that if he wakes up and puts on pink underwear, he sticks to pink as he chooses his shirt, trousers and jacket. If nothing else it should make it easier for the authorities to freeze that asset and maybe even start getting money back to victims.. Jen McAdam has a fiery Skype call with cryptocurrency enthusiast Tim Curry. The agency is also offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to her arrest. the congregations replies. Alberts was brought up in a poor neighbourhood. She is now on the FBIs list of the 10 most-wanted fugitives and is the only woman currently on the hit list. But besides loving books, he was also a master book thief. In November of the same year, he pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering and fraud. "You can never be blamed for believing in something. Around the same time, the US authorities charged Dr Ruja in absentia for wire fraud, security fraud and money laundering. Bulgarian-born German citizen Ruja Ignatova, 42, and a business partner called Sebastian Greenwood conned crypto enthusiasts by claiming their crypto token, OneCoin, would be a Bitcoin killer. So it's our blockchain technology, a SQL server with a database.". Her biggest aspiration was just to be rich. "You will find her," he said. "You can still use them to buy things, you can still use them to buy political influence and nice houses and yachts. That meant that investors could no longer trade their OneCoins and retrieve their investments. Ruja Ignatova, or Dr. Ruja, was a prominent figure in the growing cryptocurrency market. The FCA did not respond to the BBC's request to comment. She exploited the Cryptocurrency boom for a fortune and then disappeared without a trace . In this legal case, it is claimed that Ignatova acquired about 230,000 bitcoins, the largest known transaction for bitcoins, worth $48.5 million, from an Emirati royal in 2015. They started pitching it to potential investors in 2014, promising between a fivefold and tenfold return, and referred to their investors as idiots and crazy. The nature of MLM networks - where people often recruit others who are close to them - creates a blurred sense of responsibility. After that, she vanished and remains missing. One day soon, she was told, she would be able to turn these coins back into euros or pounds. "You've been planning, planning for something. They have persuaded their friends and families to invest in OneCoin. "We believe consumers should be wary of dealing with OneCoin," it said. 5 Nr. OneCoin was not a cryptocurrency and it did not have blockchain technology. It emerged during a money-laundering trial in. But the authorities all over the world have been slow to react, partly because the whole area of cryptocurrencies is relatively new. Documents leaked to the BBC say 4bn between August 2014 and March 2017. Some sources think it could be four times that amount. A couple of people looked at the photographs and paused for a long time, raising our hopes - but then said they didn't recognise her. Igor Alberts, the MLM kingpin, said he'd heard she has Russian and Ukrainian passports and travels back and forth between Russia and Dubai. He was arrested in March 2019 at LA Airport as he was about to board a flight to Bulgaria. Nobody - not banks, not governments, or the person who invents it - is in charge or can change it. It was only earlier this year that the US authorities revealed she'd flown to Athens on 25 October 2017. "I can only deduce that it came from the circles that she was in and the connections that she had through a variety of influential personalities.". All of them were "very up-tempo, full of beans, full of passion", she remembers. In June 2022, she was added to the FBI's 10 most wanted list. According to Bjercke, Dr Ruja never expected OneCoin to grow so big. Files seen by the BBC from Europol meetings suggest the FBI-wanted fugitive knew about efforts to arrest her months before she vanished. When we started planning the Missing Cryptoqueen podcast in late 2018, no-one really had a clue what happened to Dr Ruja after her disappearance. she replied, sharply. Why have so many people continued to believe in OneCoin, despite all the evidence? That's the most important thing of all," he says. Before too long they had passed 100,000 - a 10-fold return. One of the main OneCoin offices in Kampala is attached to a church. It's hard to say.". Its understood Ignatova purchased the property under a company name, but a new rule means that the beneficiary of said company must also be named in full. It turned out to be a shouting match, but it would send McAdam's life in a new direction. You've heard of Google, but there are several other search engines that specialise in this. [24], The Federal Bureau of Investigation added Ignatova to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, and announced at a joint press conference with IRS Criminal Investigation and United States Attorney's Office Southern District of New York, offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to her arrest. When I ask him who might be behind the threats, he won't elaborate. And plus, as an application, it doesn't need a server behind it. "I felt responsibility. The article follows the life of a woman who started with the best possible education and a gifted personality, but threw it all away by making the worst possible life choices. There were several old addresses in the Frankfurt area - ones she'd posted in forums many years ago, or were associated somehow with old phone numbers of hers. OneCoins other co-founder, Sebastian Greenwood, also fled. Do you know who to complain to when you are a victim of a Ponzi scheme or pyramid scheme? Even the most obscure entry or innocuous comment on a forum is usually saved somewhere, and with enough digging can be found. 2023 BBC. The alleged motive for the murder was to conceal the drug lord's involvement in the OneCoin scam. This was to be resolved at a large gathering of European OneCoin promoters in Lisbon, Portugal, in October 2017. The now 42-year-old is thought to hold both Russian and Ukrainian passports and use a fake ID. It's as glitzy as you would expect. Then we started looking at some old photos of Ruja, and spotted one friend who appeared with her all the way back to 2011. It wasn't a place we'd previously thought of looking. She knew there would be enough people either desperate enough, or greedy enough, or confused enough to take a bet on OneCoin. From a tiny fragment of a poster advertising a tennis tournament, an expert identified the park in which one photograph was taken. Author's note: I am not an expert in cryptocurrencies. Prudence is a nurse in a Kampala slum, who thought she could make more money selling OneCoin and set about recruiting new investors. Dr Ruja was still travelling the world to sell her vision - hopping from Macau to Dubai to Singapore, filling out arenas, pulling in new investors. The US Department of Justice, New York County District Attorney's Office, and Dubai Police did not comment. You told me it was a cryptocurrency company.'". he recalls. In early June 2016 a 36-year-old businesswoman called Dr Ruja Ignatova walked on stage at Wembley Arena in front of thousands of adoring fans. This proved to be fraudulent and she was sentenced to 14 months suspended jail sentence. A senior promoter gave her a nice car to impress customers, and instructed her to visit farmers when their crops were being harvested and they had money in their pocket. All over the world, people were already investing their savings into OneCoin, hoping to be part of this new revolution. The force has provided assistance to foreign law enforcement partners in respect of their investigations concerning OneCoin personnel and will continue to do this. If it doesn't happen, life is hard.". But then I recruit Georgia and Phil to start selling too, and I make a cut on their sales as well. It's going to go bigger. Bjorn Bjercke is a blockchain expert and he was the first person who started speaking publicly against OneCoin. The only way to exchange these OneCoins for any other currency was through an internal marketplaceOneCoin Exchange, known as xcoinx. One spring day a few months earlier, Jen McAdam received a message from a friend about an unmissable investment opportunity. Read about our approach to external linking. "There was no other way," he says ruefully. She is thought to have undergone several plastic surgeries in order to alter her appearance. Except now with plastic surgery, and so harder to spot. ), 'Hun, this could be your opportunity to get rich'. But by this stage, thanks to Curry and Bjercke, she knew that a standard SQL server database was no basis for a genuine cryptocurrency. Thousands of people were gathering in venues, all over the world, to see and hear her presentations. "Where's the support? Several days ago, a penthouse apartment in the London suburb of Kensington, England, went up for sale with an asking price of 12.5 million [$15.5 million] which was then downgraded to 11 million [$13.6 million]. Sixty per cent of the income Igor Alberts and Andreea Cimbala made from OneCoin (in the end, more than 2m per month) was paid in cash, the rest in OneCoin. She is best known as the founder of a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme known as OneCoin, which The Times has described as "one of the biggest scams in history". "In my opinion, for what it's worth, she's moving around the Mediterranean," he says. Bang!". It's no surprise, then, that OneCoin's corporate structure is incredibly complicated. "One Life!" 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