Citing documents allegedly found on the body of a murdered Bulgarian police officer, Bulgarian news outlet Bird reported that she was killed in 2018, taking a dark turn in the hunt for notorious “cryptocurrency queen” Ruja Ignatova.
Ignatova, the head of the multimillion-dollar OneCoin scam, disappeared after allegedly defrauding investors of as much as $5 billion in 2017. She is on international fugitive lists, including the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list and Europe's Most Wanted list. If Byrd's reports are true, she gained notoriety last summer -- two years after her presumed death.
According to a report published on Feb. 17, Bird reporters Dimitar Stoyanov and Atanas Tchobanov said police documents showed Ignatova was killed on the orders of a drug lord aboard her yacht. Her killers were Ignatova's associates, according to an unnamed source in the police report, without saying whether they were involved in the OneCoin scam.
According to Byrd, Ignatova's body was dismembered and dumped in the Ionian Sea, which is just south of the Adriatic Sea between Italy and Greece. According to a report published Feb. 17, Bird reporters Dimitar Stoyanov and Atanas Tchobanov said police documents showed Ignatova was killed on the orders of a drug lord aboard her yacht. Her killers were Ignatova's associates, according to an unnamed source in the police report, without saying whether they were involved in the OneCoin scam.
According to Byrd, Ignatova's body was dismembered and dumped in the Ionian Sea, which is just south of the Adriatic between Italy and Greece. Launched in 2014, the promoters behind OneCoin claim it is a mineable cryptocurrency with a maximum supply of 120 billion coins. The initiative has attracted hundreds of investors with the promise of becoming the next Bitcoin. However, unlike BTC, OneCoin’s blockchain does not exist.
Ignatova's complete disappearance has led investigators to believe she may have changed her appearance, but this report on Ignatova's death could explain why the FBI's $100,000 reward remains unclaimed.
In December, Ignatova partner and OneCoin co-founder Carl Sebastian Greenwood pleaded guilty to federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering in connection with the scam. In January, a London estate document submitted to the British government suggested that Igantova had resurfaced. The document lists Ignatova as the beneficial owner of Abbots House Penthouse Limited, the Guernsey-based company that bought a multimillion-dollar penthouse in the London suburb of Kensington.
But while the British document lists her name, the BBC said the list came from German prosecutors, not Ignatova.
Had Ignatova been alive, she would have faced multiple charges of wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud and money laundering conspiracy, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
