In summary
- Ruja Ignatova, the “Cryptoqueen,” could be hiding in Russia to avoid charges for her OneCoin fraud scheme.
- Ignatova’s former advisor, Frank Schneider, was arrested and then absconded in 2023 following his involvement with OneCoin.
- Theories about Ignatova’s whereabouts include Russia and South Africa, while some reports suggest her possible murder in the Ionian Sea.
Missing “Cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova could be hiding in Russia to avoid criminal charges, according to an investigative journalist from the BBC specialized in Kremlin affairs.
Ignatova was a Bulgarian-born entrepreneur who founded a fraudulent Cryptocurrency pyramid scheme known as OneCoin, which is believed to have defrauded investors of approximately $4 billion. She disappeared in 2017 and has not been publicly located since.
Yoran Tsalov, who also worked for Bellingcat, argued that Ignatova “has been linked to multiple people and interests connected to the Kremlin” in an email shared with Decrypt.
Tsalov claims that these links were confirmed by Ignatova’s former security adviser, Frank Schneider, during a BBC interview with him, conducted as part of the “Missing CryptoQueen” investigation and podcast series.
Schneider is a former Swiss spy who later founded a private investigation firm hired by OneCoin. He was placed under house arrest in France due to his connection to the operation, before escaping in 2023.
Additionally, Tsalov claims that the BBC’s ongoing investigation established that some of the companies that laundered money through OneCoin were connected to Ukraine’s pro-Russian former president, Viktor Yanukovych.
In 2019, Yanukovych was sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison on treason charges by Ukraine’s highest court. He is widely considered to have had an extensive network of offshore assets acquired due to corruption.
Yanukovych now lives in exile in Russia.
Tsalov points out that Ignatova’s own security adviser, Frank Schneider, evaded extradition.
“If he can orchestrate his disappearance from France, where he was under house arrest, awaiting extradition to the US, then he can certainly organize his from Bulgaria,” he argued.
This is Tsalov’s personal opinion and not necessarily shared by the BBC team that conducted the “Missing CryptoQueen” investigation into the scammer.
“It is much easier for the criminal actors involved in this matter to keep her alive and, through her, manage their assets,” Tsalov added.
There are countless theories about the location of the missing “Cryptoqueen.” The German newspaper Der Spiegel also published an article in November 2024, stating that German authorities are searching for a woman in South Africa. Meanwhile, some Bulgarian police reports maintain that she could have been dismembered on a yacht and thrown into the Ionian Sea.
Other high-profile wanted people hiding in Russia have avoided extradition requests for years.
Renowned US government whistleblower Edward Snowden has lived in Russia since 2013.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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