Is Cryptocurrency Queen Ruja Ignatova Alive? US Government Raises Reward Offer to $5 Million

The US government has increased the reward for information on the whereabouts of Ruja Ignatova, co-founder of OneCoin, to $5 million.

According to an official statement from the spokesperson for the US State Department in conjunction with the US Embassy in Bulgaria, anyone providing information leading to the arrest or conviction of Ignatova, known as Cryptoqueen, would be rewarded with 5 million dollars.

This new reward represents a significant increase from the previous $250,000 offer announced by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and raises speculation about the authenticity of Cryptoqueen’s 2018 assassination rumors.

US Offers $5 Million Reward to Cryptoqueen

Cryptoqueen is wanted in the United States for orchestrating one of the largest transnational fraud schemes in history. Although some of her accomplices were apprehended and convicted based on their crimes, she has been on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list since 2022.

The 44-year-old Bulgarian-born German citizen co-founded OneCoin in 2014 and promoted the project as a crypto investment through false statements and representations. Since 2017, Cryptoqueen had used the Ponzi scheme to defraud investors of over $4 billion.

When investigators came for her in late 2017, Ignatova fled Bulgaria to Greece to escape arrest and has remained on the run ever since. US and German authorities have charged the creator of OneCoin with allegations of fraud and money laundering. Bulgarian authorities also intend to charge Ignatova for her crimes soon, thereby beginning the process of confiscating her illegally acquired property.

Dead or alive?

As the hunt for Cryptoqueen continues, rumors swirl that she has altered her physical appearance through plastic surgery. She also reportedly travels with armed security guards and associates. The FBI believes she may be using a German passport to travel to countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Russia, and Eastern Europe.

Last year, rumors circulated that Cryptoqueen was murdered by Bulgarian drug lord Hristoforos Amanatidis, better known as Taki, who was also in charge of her security. Sources claimed that Taki ordered a hitman to dismember Ignatova and dump her remains in the Ionian Sea, in an attempt to rid himself of her ties to the OneCoin scam.

However, the BBC team behind The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast have received information about Cryptoqueen’s whereabouts since 2018, and after a failed police operation to apprehend her in Greece in 2022, rumors of his death may be a ploy to deceive national authorities.