The Woman Who Scammed the World

Ruja Ignatova called herself the Cryptoqueen. She told people around the world that she had invented a cryptocurrency to rival Bitcoin, and persuaded them to invest billions. Then, two years ago, she disappeared and the world has been trying to find out where she is hiding… Ignatova filled arenas around the world with thousands of adoring fans. She was flamboyant, enigmatic and dazzling. She told the cheering crowds that OneCoin was on course to become the world's biggest cryptocurrency "for everyone to make payments everywhere". She said that OneCoin, was a "Bitcoin killer" and would make early investors rich. And the people believed her. Many in the crowd had already poured in their life savings. Many more followed. Billions from across the world was spent on OneCoin tokens, then, in late 2017, Ruja disappeared and the scheme was exposed to be a scam. There was no cryptocurrency. It was an old-fashioned Ponzi scheme. FBI records show that just after her no-show at a OneCoin event, Ignatova boarded a flight from Sofia to Athens. And then went completely off radar. That was the last time anyone saw or heard from Dr Ruja...