Ruja Ignatova. Source: Trud
According to recent Bulgarian sources, Ruja Ignatova, a.k.a the “Cryptoqueen,” might have been killed in November 2018.
She is the founder of the fraudulent scheme OneCoin and was last spotted in Greece in 2017.
Secret police documents seen by Bulgarian media outlets revealed that the notorious Ruja Ignatova might have been brutally murdered over four years ago. The hitman, acting on behalf of the local drug lord Hristoforos Amanatidis (“Taki”), supposedly chopped her body and threw her remains in the Ionian sea.
“Taki” is rumored to be a leader of a criminal gang and one of the drug kingpins in the East European region. He controls his affairs from abroad since he relocated from Bulgaria after facing issues with some political parties more than a decade ago. Some coverages believe he ordered Ignatova’s assassination because he had a connection with her fraudulent cryptocurrency project OneCoin.
The “Cryptoqueen” and her brainchild scammed millions of people between 2014 and 2016, stealing over $4 billion from victims. She disappeared shortly after the authorities started investigating the fraud and was last seen in Athens, Greece, in 2017.
Another theory is that Ignatova (who is included in the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list) is hiding on a luxurious yacht in the Mediterranean Sea away from the coast (where law enforcement agencies are unauthorized to arrest her).
The Southern District of New York (SDNY) Courthouse recently slapped Ignatova’s former boyfriend – Gilbert Armenta – with a five-year prison sentence.
Prosecutors claimed he laundered $300 million in proceeds generated from the OneCoin scam and bought luxurious items for himself, including a jet plane.
Armenta also violated his deal with the authorities by selling the aircraft, stole a $5 million check, bribed Mexican entities, and gambled funds drained from OneCoin victims.
He pleaded guilty to money laundering, extortion, and committing wire fraud in 2018, securing him a reduced punishment. Ignatova’s ex-lover asked to serve his sentence in FCI Miami Federal Prison – a low-security correctional institution for male inmates. The magistrates are yet to decide on that request.