Increased reward for 'Cryptoqueen' leads to $5 million million breakthrough

The reward for helping locate Ruja Ignatova has increased from $250,000 to $5 million. The Bulgarian-born German, known as the "Cryptoqueen," created the cryptocurrency company OneCoin, gained investor trust, collected billions of dollars, and disappeared.

44-year-old Ruja Ignatova was born in Bulgaria but holds German citizenship. She is suspected of defrauding investors of money.

Ignatova established the investment firm OneCoin and announced the creation of a new cryptocurrency to compete with Bitcoin. "OneCoin would be the ‘Bitcoin killer,’" promised Ignatova. The educated, charismatic German quickly gained investor confidence. She defrauded them of over $4 billion.

In 2017, the woman boarded a plane from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece. After that, she vanished without a trace. Despite the years passing, the "Cryptoqueen" remains elusive. Two years ago, Ignatova was added to the FBI's top ten most wanted list. She ranked alongside murderers and gang leaders and is the only woman on the list.

Not long ago, the FBI was offering $100,000, then $250,000 for information leading to Ignatova's arrest. Now, the U.S. Department of State announced the reward has increased to $5 million. For comparison, that is the same amount offered for information about the head of one of the largest drug cartels in Europe.

We are offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of German national Ruja Ignatova, known as 'Cryptoqueen,' for her role in one of the largest global fraud schemes in history - said U.S. Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller, quoted by BBC.

The new reward is part of the State Department's Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program.

Jamie Bartlett, a British journalist following the case, believes the increase in the reward aims to reach those who likely continue to protect Ignatova. Those who know the woman claim she offers large amounts of money for silence.

"$100,000 wouldn’t persuade a junior member of a crime syndicate or a personal bodyguard to call the FBI’s hotline - it’s far too risky. But $5m just might," assesses the journalist.