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Guernsey’s government has seized more than £8 million in assets belonging to Dr Ruja Ignatova, the so-called “crypto queen” who has been on the run from charges in the US and elsewhere for the past eight years.
Guernsey’s Royal Court said it determined that Ignatova, 45, had £8.59m plus interest held in an account at RBS International in Guernsey, under the name Aquitaine Group Limited.
Forfeiture order
The Royal Court upheld an Overseas Forfeiture Order that was sought on behalf of German authorities in the city of Bielefield, and the funds were transferred to Guernsey’s Seized Assets Fund.
Bulgaria-born Ignatova, a German citizen, is wanted by prosecutors in Germany and by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
She disappeared eight years ago, days after the FBI issued a warrant for her arrest.
In June 2024, the US Department of State’s Transnational Organised Crime Rewards Programme offered a $5m (£3.7m) reward for information leading to Ignatova’s arrest and/or conviction.
Oxford-educated Ignatova ran the Bulgaria-based OneCoin cryptocurrency venture, which a US federal prosecutor had previously called “one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history”.
The FBI in 2019 charged Ignatova with eight counts including wire fraud and securities fraud over the scheme.
In July 2022 the FBI added Ignatova its list of its ten most-wanted fugitives, offering $100,000 for information leading to Ignatova’s capture.
Ignatova was charged alongside Mark Scott, a former corporate lawyer who prosecutors said laundered about $400m for OneCoin.
Crypto fugitive
Scott was found guilty of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, following a three-week trial in Manhattan federal court in 2022.
Prosecutors allege the OneCoin cryptocurrency venture had offered commissions to members to entice others to buy the worthless cryptocurrency.
Ignatova was OneCoin’s high-profile leader, touring the world and addressing crowded events, telling them that OneCoin was a “Bitcoin killer”.
She disappeared in late 2017 after bugging an apartment belonging to her American boyfriend and learning he was co-operating with an FBI probe into OneCoin.
She boarded a flight from Bulgaria to Greece and was not been seen since.
