The incredible story of Ruja Ignatova and her 4 billion dollar scam: find out how she was found 5 years later

Ruja Plamenova Ignatova, a German citizen of Bulgarian origin, has been convicted for her fraudulent crypto-currency scheme known as OneCoin, which is promoted as “one of the biggest scams in history“. After being missing for five years, the 42-year-old fraudster was finally located in the heart of London.

Ruja Ignatov, CEO of OneCoin, has been found

In 2014, they began the process of pitching to potential investors, offering a return of between 5 and 10 times the initial investment and calling their investors “idiots“and “crazy“.” And in October 2017, the con artist disappeared entirely as law enforcement closed in on her, and has not been seen since. She is the only woman on the FBI’s most wanted list at this time and has been added to their 10 most wanted fugitives list.

However, Ignatova reportedly surfaced earlier this month to claim one of her estates. After being listed for sale a few days ago with an initial price of $15.5 million, a penthouse apartment in the London neighborhood of Kensington, England, has had its price reduced to $13.6 million. It is fairly obvious that Ignatova purchased the property in the name of a company; however, due to a recently implemented rule, the full name of the company’s beneficiary must now also be provided.

Ruja Ignatov’s growing legal troubles

As a result, the lawyers representing Ignatova filed a complaint about the property. They registered it as “beneficial owner“of the condominium property in a statement they made to the U.K. financial regulator. The property was previously owned by a company known as Abbots House Penthouse Limited, which was headquartered in Guernsey, a city known for being a tax haven and for its lax government oversight. For this reason, Ignatova has not, until now, been mentioned in the public registers or in the land registry.

When it became apparent that Ignatova was connected with the house, the prestigious real estate company Knight Frank withdrew the advertisement for the house almost immediately after its publication. Ignatova was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. These charges were brought against her by the U.S. Department of Justice. She is one of 11 women on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, which was first published in 1950 and contains a total of 529 individuals who received special mention.

Authorities went so far as to offer a $100,000 reward for information that would lead to her capture. In addition, they issued a warning that Ignatova may undergo plastic surgery to alter her appearance.