London’s High Court has issued a worldwide freeze order for the assets of alleged OneCoin fraudsters, including those of the infamous ‘Cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova.
According to an announcement shared with Decrypt, the case—initiated by over 400 victims of the OneCoin Ponzi scheme—resulted in a freeze order on the assets of Ignatova and OneCoin co-founder Sebastian Greenwood, along with Christopher Hamilton, and Robert MacDonald.
Hamilton and MacDonald allegedly helped launder the funds on behalf of the OneCoin scheme’s organizers. The funds of four influencers who promoted the scheme were also frozen, along with those of business entities that Ingatova allegedly used to launder the funds from OneCoin and purchase assets.
Launched in 2014, OneCoin billed itself as a “Bitcoin killer,” but it was subsequently revealed to be a Ponzi scheme, with no network for the token having been built.
Ignatova—also known as the ‘Cryptoqueen’—defrauded investors worldwide through the $4 billion Ponzi scheme until its collapse in 2017 and her subsequent disappearance. She was last seen fleeing Bulgaria on a plane to Athens, Greece in 2017, and made it on to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) ten most wanted list.
Although Ignatova herself has not been seen since she fled Bulgaria in 2017, she seemingly resurfaced in a 2023 UK government filing linked to a London property.
When the property was listed for $15.5 million—later reduced to $13.6 million—she was reportedly forced to step forward as its owner. This was due to recent rules involving overseas companies in the UK, and her status as a so-called beneficial owner of the company owning the property.
However, a BBC report at the time noted that the listing could be traced back to prosecutors in the German city of Bielefeld rather than UK law officials or Ignatova herself.
Ignatova’s page on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list notes that the United States Department of State's Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program offers up to $5 million for information leading to her arrest or conviction.
Getting close to her would be challenging, though, since she is believed to travel with “armed guards and/or associates.” The FBI also notes that she “may have had plastic surgery or otherwise altered her appearance.”