Contents
Key facts:
According to the BBC he persuaded investors out of 175 countries and raised $ 4,000 million pounds sterling.In 2012 and 2014 and was recognized in Bulgaria as “Business Woman of the year”.This week, a podcast published by the BBC is giving what to talk about. The research has led to the technology expert, Jamie Bartlett, and producer Georgia Catt to travel through Germany, Bulgaria, and Uganda on the trail of Ruja Ignatova, the woman behind OneCoin, a project noted as one of the scams in the world of cryptocurrencies.The BBC documentary The Missing Cryptoqueen, has not been given with the self-proclaimed “queen of the cryptocurrencies”, disappeared from 2017 in a mysterious way, although it has found its victims, that are found in every corner of the planet. What, then, was what happened to Ruja Ignatova?In 2014 Ruja Ignatova founded the company OneCoin. This woman of 39 years old, born in Sofia (Bulgaria), was the visible head of the company that promoted a criptomoneda non-existent. If something he knew how to make Ignatova was to convince people to believe in your business model, stresses the BBC. He adds that he brought his message to the world, and in just two years, had caught the attention of investors from all over the world, who believed in his idea.That Ignatova launched an attractive business model, supported by a large world tour of promotion. With her as the main figure, also included a talk in the football stadium of Wembley, one of the sports venues larger Inglaterra.De that way, began to persuade investors of at least 175 countries and raised an amount close to 4,000 million pounds sterling.Ruja Ignatova in a promotional activity of OneCoin in Bulgaria in 2015. Source: Facebook.
The big scam
According to the BBC, the chinese citizens were able to invest more than 500 million euros, while the british were able to pay up to 115 million.The company, with offices in Dubai and Bulgaria, was making plans to open branches in all over the world. But when things seemed to be marching very well to Ignatova and your company OneCoin, the woman disappeared in October of 2017, almost at the same time in which it was accused of fraud in the united states.UU.The businesswoman had received awards, in 2012 and 2014, in your country, qualified as “Business Woman of the year”. However, in 2015 the Commission of Financial Supervision in Bulgaria had warned that OneCoin was not recognized as a financial instrument and that it was highly risky.Later, the same year of the disappearance of Ignatova, the National Commission for Companies and Stock exchange of Italy banned all actions of the company, while it ensured that OneCoin used a pyramid scheme and made promotion misleading. That is why they were sanctioned with a fine of 2.6 million euros.Then ruled Germany, which froze the bank accounts of the company and initiated investigation against seven members of OneCoin by alleged organized fraud and money laundering. A few months later, India detained 20 people in connection with the firm, while other countries such as China, Bulgaria, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Latvia, and included the company in their lists of observation.The U.S. Department of Justice called OneCoin as a pyramid scheme outdated. Despite all this, the firm still has offices in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he allegedly sold investments in the criptomoneda non-existent.OneCoin denies the accusations despite the fact that its founder remains elusive. The Wikipedia page for the project is consistent with the point of view of the BBC. Although it is believed that people are still investing in OneCoin, because their web site is still operating.In march of this year, Konstantin Ignatov, brother of Ruja Ignatova, who has assumed the position of leader of OneCoin after the disappearance of the woman, was arrested at los Angeles International Airport, as a result of an investigation by the alleged scam. In the announcement of the arrest is the subject of charges of money laundering, wire fraud and securities fraud.Meanwhile, the victims of OneCoin are still wondering if some day the call queen of the cryptocurrencies shall be filed with the justice.