Cryptocurrency can prove to be dangerous if you invest without considerable knowledge about it. Even as someone who knows your way around it, you could still fall victim to the likes of Sam Bankman-Fried and "Cryptoqueen" Ruja Ignatova, with the latter getting away with the crime.
A Movie-Worthy Escape
The events surrounding the discovery of the OneCoin scam have been so dramatic, they can be likened to that of a heist movie. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said that OneCoin was marketed as the "Bitcoin killer," enticing millions of investors all over the world.
Once the scheme was determined to be fraudulent, OneCoin co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood was arrested and pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges. This was also the case for Konstantin Ignatov, Ruja's brother, who also joined in on the scam.
Greenwood might face a potential maximum sentence of 20 years for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and another 20 for one count of wire fraud. Another maximum of 20 years could be added to his sentence for money laundering.
The maximum years of sentences are prescribed by the Congress and are yet to be decided by a judge. A court date has already been arranged, which is April 5th of 2023, which will be seen by Judge Ramos.
Ruja Ignatova, however, is nowhere to be found and has made it to the FBI's top ten most-wanted fugitives list, according to Interesting Engineering. She took a flight to Athens, Greece from Sofia, Bulgaria in 2017 and was never seen again.
Read Also: SEC Charges Individuals Behind the $300 Million Crypto Pyramid and Ponzi Scheme
Before the Cryptoqueen's Disappearance
OneCoin was founded by both Greenwood and Ignatova back in 2014, which according to the FBI, was fully intended to be used for defrauding investors. The two even referred to the cryptocurrency as "trashy coin" through their email exchanges.
They operated as a multi-level marketing network or MLM where members would receive commissions for recruiting others to buy cryptocurrency packages. Through this method, the operation became a rapid-growing pyramid scheme.
Greenwood and Ignatova misinterpreted the value of OneCoin to deceive investors, when in fact, they set the value themselves. Investors then wired funds to bank accounts that were controlled by OneCoin to purchase cryptocurreny packages.
Ignatova served as the fraudulent company's leader, while Greenwood was the "global master distributor," leading the MLM network where the cryptocurrency was marketed and sold. This led to Greenwood earning €20 million a month.
The company's records show that more than three million people invested in the cryptocurrency packages, generating €4.037 billion in sales revenue between 2014 to 2016, thus, earning €2.735 billion in "profits."
The co-founder began talking about an exit strategy around August 2019, based on the email recovered by the authorities. One option that Ignatova proposed was to take the money and run, as well as blame someone else for the money's disappearance.
In an email exchange between Ignatova and her brother, she called the OneCoin investors "idiots." Konstantin Ignatov responded by saying that as Ruja told him, the network would not have worked if it targeted intelligent people.
There is still no information as to where Ignatova might be, but the FBI is already offering a $100,000 reward for anyone who can provide any information that will lead to her arrest.
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