Ruja Ignatova

OneCoin head of compliance facing 40-year sentence after US extradition

The alleged fraudster was accused of doing the “exact opposite” of her job title, which was to ensure OneCoin was complying with laws.

United States federal prosecutors have charged a former executive of the fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme OneCoin for her role in the operation. Irina Dilkinska now faces up to 40 years in prison after being extradited from Bulgaria.

On March 21, the Department of Justice charged Dilkinska — OneCoin’s former head of legal and compliance — with one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each count carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison.

Dilkinska allegedly aided in laundering over $400 million of OneCoin’s proceeds, and upon hearing of a co-conspirator’s arrest destroyed incriminating evidence and sent incriminating messages.

Bulgarian woman charged for role in multi-billion-dollar cryptocurrency pyramid scheme “OneCoin” and extradited from Bulgaria to the United Stateshttps://t.co/XsY0rYJWeF

— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) March 21, 2023

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams pointed out the irony in Dilikinska’s job title given the nature of OneCoin, saying:

“Irina Dilkinska, the supposed Head of Legal and Compliance for the OneCoin cryptocurrency pyramid scheme, accomplished the exact opposite of her job title and allegedly enabled OneCoin to launder millions of dollars of illegal proceeds through shell companies.”

The announcement said Dilkinska was extradited from Bulgaria on March 20 and was set to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn the following day.

OneCoin was founded in 2014 by “cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova and Karl Sebastian Greenwood, with the latter facing up to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty in December to multiple charges.

Ignatova, however, has managed to evade law enforcement agencies, going missing in October 2017 after a flight to Greece just 15 days after a federal warrant was issued for her arrest.

In 2014, a woman named Ruja Ignatova launched a fake cryptocurrency named “OneCoin”. Despite the currency never existing, Ruja convinced people all over the world to invest. In 2017, after raking in $4 billion profit, she boarded a plane to Greece and hasn’t been seen since. pic.twitter.com/DoJCfmy0Uj

— Facts – Weird & Interesting (@info_tale) March 15, 2023

In June 2022, Ignatova was added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Top Ten Most Wanted List, and a $100,000 reward is offered for information leading to her arrest.

OneCoin was exposed as a scam back in 2015 but managed to generate over $4.3 billion in revenue, with profits of nearly $3 billion between Q4 2014 and Q4 2016 alone.

‘Cryptoqueen’ associates face German court for role in $4B OneCoin scheme

The whereabouts of “Cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova are still unknown but the charges against OneCoin members are starting to pile up.

Three associates of fugitive OneCoin founder Ruja Ignatova, known colloquially as the “Cryptoqueen,” have faced a German court over allegations of fraud, money laundering and banking crimes.

Appearing in court on Oct. 18, a Munich-based lawyer connected to Ignatova is alleged to have transferred $19.7 million via the Cayman Islands on her behalf to purchase two London apartments. Additionally, a husband and wife are facing charges over allegedly handling $315.4 million worth of payments from OneCoin customers, as per a Bloomberg report.

Ignatova launched OneCoin back in 2014 under the guise of a cryptocurrency and trading project, however according to enforcement agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), it was soon found to be a pyramid scheme roping users in with fictitious business and technical claims that were untrue, such as a token mining structure that was non-existent.

According to the FBI, the project defrauded more than 3 million investors out of roughly $4 billion, with prosecutors noting in the German court that:

“In reality, the ever-growing value was a fake and the mining process was only simulated by the software.”

Ignatova’s whereabouts have been unknown since 2017, her last known location was reported to be in Athens, Greece.

In June the FBI added her to its top ten most wanted list, offering up $100,000 for information leading to her arrest. Apart from being wanted for over $4 billion worth of fraud, her company has also been accused of bribing presidents in Serbia and Bulgaria by economist and crypto proponent Angelina Lazar.

The latest three OneCoin figures to face prosecutors adds to the action taken against another alleged accomplice Christoper Hamilton, accused of laundering $105 million through the scheme in 2014.

In August 2021, a judge in the United Kingdom approved the extradition process for Hamilton to face changes in the United States and it was reported he was extradited at the start of September.

Cryptoqueen’s brother Konstantin Ignatov took over the reins of OneCoin at one point, and pleaded guilty to several money laundering and fraud related charges in 2019, while two of his associates were the subject of a class action suit that was brought to trial in March 2020.

The case of the missing Cryptoqueen has remained a subject of keen interest to date, with journalist and author Jamie Bartlett hosting a popular podcast on the topic via the BBC that has published 11 episodes so far.

Bartlett also published a book on the entire ordeal in June called The Missing Cryptoqueen: The Billion Dollar Cryptocurrency Con and the Woman Who Got Away with It, providing a public discussion on the book at the Red Line Festival in South Dublin on Oct. 16.

‘Cryptoqueen’ associates face German court for role in $4B OneCoin scheme

The whereabouts of “Cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova are still unknown, but the charges against OneCoin members are starting to pile up.

Three associates of fugitive OneCoin founder Ruja Ignatova, known colloquially as the “Cryptoqueen,” have faced a German court over allegations of fraud, money laundering and banking crimes.

Ignatova launched OneCoin back in 2014 under the guise of a cryptocurrency and trading project. However, according to enforcement agencies such as the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), it was soon found to be a pyramid scheme roping users in with fictitious business and technical claims that were untrue, such as a token mining structure that was non-existent.

According to the FBI, the project defrauded more than 3 million investors out of roughly $4 billion, with prosecutors noting in the German court that:

“In reality, the ever-growing value was a fake and the mining process was only simulated by the software.”

Ignatova’s whereabouts have been unknown since 2017; her last known location was reported to be in Athens, Greece.

In June, the FBI added her to its top ten most wanted list, offering up $100,000 for information leading to her arrest. Apart from being wanted for over $4 billion worth of fraud, her company has also been accused of bribing presidents in Serbia and Bulgaria by economist and crypto proponent Angelina Lazar.

The latest three OneCoin figures to face prosecutors adds to the action taken against another alleged accomplice Christoper Hamilton, accused of laundering $105 million through the scheme in 2014.

In August 2021, a judge in the United Kingdom approved the extradition process for Hamilton to face changes in the United States and it was reported he was extradited at the start of September.

Cryptoqueen’s brother Konstantin Ignatov took over the reins of OneCoin at one point, and pleaded guilty to several money laundering and fraud-related charges in 2019, while two of his associates were the subject of a class-action suit that was brought to trial in March 2020.