The Bulgarian businesswoman and other founders of the cryptocurrency that turned out to be yet another pyramid scheme were even able to complete luxury real estate transactions after the scandal had already broken.

The reign of the “cryptoqueen” was short-lived, but it was, however, very lucrative. In 2014, Bulgarian businesswoman Ruja Ignatova launched OneCoin, a new cryptocurrency whose goal was to compete with Bitcoin. Conferences were organized to promote this new digital Eldorado, business was booming and investors were flocking in. But in just two years, everything collapsed. OneCoin turned out to be just another pyramid scheme, having bilked millions of hapless investors out of over $4 billion (€3.69 billion).

The US authorities reacted very quickly: They charged Ignatova with fraud and money laundering, then issued a federal arrest warrant for her on October 12, 2017. But the cryptoqueen moved faster than they did. “Take the money and run and blame someone else for this,” she suggested to the scam’s co-founder at the launch of her fake digital currency. Putting her money where her mouth was, she liquidated her OneCoin companies, hopped on a plane to Athens and disappeared into thin air. Listed among the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted, the cryptoqueen never resurfaced. Some said she was dead.

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