Like the character Annie in the chartbuster track ‘Smooth Criminal’ released by ‘King of Pop’ Michael Jackson, investors in the bitcoin-rival OneCoin token didn’t realize that they were going through its lucrative, brilliant and nefarious co-founder, Ruja Ignatova,
More than 3.5 million members who were originally buying instructional packages in exchange for the OneCoin crypto token were eventually snatched away by more than $4 billion when she disappeared just before a mega OneCoin event in 2017.
Added to the FBI’s most wanted list, Rooza also has an Interpol Red Notice issued against him for crimes at the helm of OneCoin Ltd and OneLife Network Ltd, the companies behind the Ponzi scheme, which he co-founded with Sebastian Greenwood. was established. in 2014.
Described by The Times as “one of the biggest scandals in history”, OneCoin’s failure shocked and stunned the world, with Ruza detailing every single detail leading up to its disappearance.
Hailing from Bulgaria and specializing in private international law from prestigious institutions such as the University of Konstanz and the University of Oxford, Ruja had the credentials to pursue her ambitions and also boasts of work experience in prestigious organizations such as McKinsey & Company.
Married to Bjorn Strehl, a German lawyer, she gave birth to a daughter in 2016 and garnered brownie points from her investor base when she thanked him in a video posted shortly afterwards.
Specialized in engaging and exciting her audience with her charming personality, Ruza was hailed as the ‘Crypto Queen’ for her larger-than-life aura and was quite passionate about holding grand events to promote her cryptocurrency .
However, unbeknownst to most of her investors, Ruza was devising her exit plan, while enticing more investors to buy OneCoin tokens and even tried to trick her husband into luring someone else when he lost over 230,000. Ran away with bitcoin.
While Rouja followed the typical pyramid structure to entice early investors to sell OneCoin tokens to other buyers for a healthy commission, what is even more surprising is that the token was never listed on any crypto exchange and was not listed here. There wasn’t even a blockchain. Transaction profile.
Furthermore, the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) of Bulgaria issued a warning in September 2015 on the potential risks involved in cryptocurrencies, explicitly citing the OneCoin token as an example for investors to be wary of.
Nevertheless, this did not stop Rouja from colluding with its partners to promise faster, cheaper and safer transactions than the bitcoin network and even marketed OneCoin as a ‘bitcoin-killer’. .
While all the negative media coverage should have discouraged investors, Ruja shrewdly bypassed all these actions and implemented a series of tactics like shutting down all activity in Bulgaria, sending all transactions to foreign banks, and so on. Involving even more investors asked the authorities to avoid. With his mysterious personality.
With speculation about stopping between luxury penthouses and yachts to overtake the authorities, Rouza was known to travel to Athens for the last time before disappearing from the public eye.
She left behind all known relatives, including her daughter, husband, and even her brother, Konstantin Ignatov, who is a co-conspirator in the OneCoin scam.
While Ruza’s brother Konstantin, co-founder Carl Sebastian Greenwood, and her lawyer Mark Scott have all been arrested and subsequently prosecuted, her husband is under constant surveillance and has been the subject of numerous raids.
The 42-year-old is also believed to have links with powerful Russian and Bulgarian criminal syndicates and unverified reports claim that he was seen in Dubai, Thailand and other tourist hotspots since his disappearance.
Despite his apparent criminal status and a cause of dismay to millions of investors, Ruza became even more infamous when BBC Radio 5 Live released the podcast ‘The Missing Cryptoquine’ in 2019, which struck a chord with the general public and cryptocurrency fans around the world. was a hit.
While some believe she may have had plastic surgery to change her appearance and has assumed an alternative identity, the mystery of her disappearance continues to fascinate the world.