Fugitive ‘Cryptoqueen’ hit by asset freeze

The so-called CryptoQueen has been missing since 2017

A woman wanted by the FBI for orchestrating a $4.5bn cryptocurrency scam called OneCoin has been hit with a global asset freeze, brought on behalf of investors seeking compensation.

Ruja Ignatova, known as the Missing Cryptoqueen, is now subject to a global freezing order which prevents her assets from being sold or moved.

Ms Ignatova has not been seen since she stepped off a Ryanair flight in Athens, Greece, more than six years ago.

In June, the BBC revealed her links to the Bulgarian underworld and a man widely suspected to be an organised crime boss who was involved in her disappearance.

So far, OneCoin investors' attempts to get significant compensation for their losses have failed, much like the search for Ms Ignatova. US authorities are currently offering a $5m (£4m) reward for information leading to her arrest.

The freezing order, made public on Wednesday at London’s High Court, is part of a group action brought by more than 400 OneCoin investors.

It is spearheaded by Jennifer McAdam, who said she and her friends and family lost more than £200,000 in the OneCoin scam.

“I have seen first hand the toll this fraud has taken on so many lives," she said.

“The stories of victims are utterly heart-breaking and the financial ruin they have been left in is unbearable.”

Ms McAdam, from Scotland, first shared her story in 2019 with the BBC’s Missing Cryptoqueen podcast. Like others interviewed from Uganda and the US, she had convinced her closest friends and family to invest before realising it was a scam.

In the UK alone, the BBC estimates OneCoin investors lost more than £100m.

OneCoin investors in the group claim are being represented by law firm Mishcon de Reya.

“The claim remains open at this time so claimants can still join,” said Rhymal Persad, a partner at the firm.

“Only those investors who sign up to the claim will be able to receive any damages that are recovered.”

The freezing order does not just target Ms Ignatova but seven other people and four companies - all alleged to have been connected with OneCoin in some form.

They include OneCoin’s co-founder, Sebastian Greenwood, who is in a US prison serving a 20-year sentence for his role in the fraud.

Also subject to the freeze are British businessmen Christopher Hamilton and Robert MacDonald, who appeared in court in London.

The pair are accused by US authorities of laundering OneCoin proceeds, however attempts to extradite them to the US to face trial have failed.

Also subject to the freeze are two Guernsey companies, which as the BBC revealed in 2021, were used by Miss Ignatova to purchase a £13.5m Kensington penthouse and a £1.9m apartment in the same building for her bodyguards to use.

OneCoin promoters are also subject to the freeze. Although - like the investors - they may have suffered losses when OneCoin collapsed and Ms Ignatova fled. It is alleged that they made significant sums through recruiting more investors.

The promoters subject to the freeze are: Kari Wahlroos, Muhammad Zafar, Moynul Islam and Monirul Islam.

At the High Court, lawyers for the Islam brothers quoted from Jennifer McAdam’s book “Devil’s Coin,” in which they suggested their clients were also deceived, like her.

“What the claimants have to do is explain why they are different from the tens of thousands of other investors in OneCoin,” said Monirul Islam’s barrister, James McWilliams.

The Missing Cryptoqueen

The search for Dr Ruja Ignatova takes an unexpected turn when a story emerges alleging she's been murdered. But with sightings of Dr Ruja still coming in, can it be true?