Scamming Crypto-Queen Alive and on the Run, Proprietary Documents Suggest

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Wanted fugitive Ruja Ignatova has not been seen since October 2017. The “crypto queen” is said to have scammed billions of investors before disappearing for years. A recent property listing suggests that Ignatova is alive and still at large, according to reports. LoadingSomething is being loaded.

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UK property listings may have just located “crypto-queen” Ruja Ignatova years after her disappearance in 2017.

Ignatova, 42, of Bulgarian descent, is wanted by the FBI for allegedly defrauding investors out of $4 billion between 2014 and 2016 in a Ponzi scheme using her now defunct company OneCoin. She was charged in absentia in 2019 with wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering.

In October 2017, she disappeared until documents linked to a London penthouse apartment apparently indicated her whereabouts, the New York Post reported. Previously, it was unknown if Ignatova was still alive and on the run.

The track was discovered by investigative journalist and host of “The Missing Cryptoqueen” podcast Jamie Bartlett. He alleges that Ignatova originally purchased the property under a corporation’s name, but was forced to be named the corporation’s beneficiary under a new rule, according to the New York Post.

Earlier this month, Ignatova’s lawyers filed a formal ownership complaint with financial regulators and Ignatova was listed as the “beneficial owner” of the apartment, the report said. The penthouse was originally listed at over $15 million before being reduced to around $13 million.

The posting was reportedly removed after the estate agent learned of his connection to the fugitive. It remains to be seen whether the apartment has been sold or not.

Ignatova is currently the only woman on the FBI’s most wanted list, and she is the 11th woman to appear on the list in its 72-year history, Insider’s Sarah Al-Arshani reported Tuesday.

Bartlett told UK digital publication iNews the move was “one of the most interesting developments in history”.

“This suggests she is still alive, and there are documents somewhere that contain vital clues to her recent whereabouts,” Bartlett said.

He added: “If nothing else, this should make it easier for the authorities to freeze this asset and perhaps even start returning the money to the victims.”

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