The FBI had suspicions that cryptoqueen may have used a German passport to travel from Athens to the UAE, Germany, Russia, Eastern Europe, or perhaps back to Bulgaria. Now, cryptoqueen is appearing after 5 years of hiding.
Ruja Ignatova, dubbed the “cryptoqueen” for her multibillion-dollar OneCoin Ponzi scheme, has really been proclaimed missing since 2017, when US authorities issued an arrest order for her. A judicial petition earlier this month could be the first sign of life since she departed Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece, five years ago.
Ruja Ignatova, also called the Crypto Queen, has been added to the FBI’s Most Wanted List and has become the first crypto criminal on it with a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to her capture.
The British newspaper iNews revealed last week that a lawyer for Ignatova secured a $13.6 million penthouse in central London.
The property is owned by Abbots House Penthouse Limited, an anonymous Guernsey shell company, meaning that Ignatova’s name does not have to appear on land registry deeds or in public records.
-iNews
A change in Companies House rules means that beneficial owners of UK-registered firms must now be named in full. But the fugitive appears to have emerged out of hiding to make a formal claim on the London property. -iNews
The host of The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast, Jamie Bartlett, who has attempted to locate Ignatova, called this news “one of the most interesting developments in the story.”
“The world’s most wanted woman is now officially listed as the ultimate beneficial owner of a London penthouse,” he added.
“It suggests she is still alive, and there are documents out there somewhere which contain vital clues as to her recent whereabouts. If nothing else it should make it easier for the authorities to freeze that asset – and maybe even start getting money back to victims.”
The FBI suspects she may have used a German passport to travel from Athens to the UAE, Germany, Russia, Eastern Europe, or perhaps back to Bulgaria. She is one of the FBI’s top ten “most wanted” people in connection with a $4 billion bitcoin fraud. It would not be surprising if she employed high-quality fake identification documents and disguised herself to avoid authorities.