Guernsey Seizes $11.4M in OneCoin Fraud as Cryptoqueen’s Empire Crumbles

Guernsey has recovered over £8.5 million, or about $11.4 million, of money associated with the OneCoin fraud, which is one of the most tangible financial recoveries to date connected with the case of fugitive founder Ruja Ignatova, also known as the “Cryptoqueen.”

The ruling adds fresh weight to international efforts to dismantle what remains of OneCoin’s financial footprint, even as its mastermind has been missing for more than eight years.

According to the report issued by the Guernsey Press, the Royal Court of Guernsey agreed to an overseas forfeiture order sought by German prosecutors in the city of Bielefeld.

The decision of the court was that the money in the name of Aquitaine Group Limited held in Guernsey in the account of RBS International, which amounted to £8.59 million plus accumulated interest, was under the control of Ignatova and that it should be seized.

The money is now in the Seized Asset Fund of Guernsey, where it is to be utilized mainly to recompense victims and aid law enforcement.

How OneCoin’s Fake Crypto Trail Led to £8.8M in Seized Assets

Ignatova was a Bulgarian-born German citizen who established OneCoin in 2014 and marketed it to the world as a disruptive cryptocurrency and a killer of Bitcoin.

In practice, prosecutors subsequently confirmed that OneCoin did not even have an operating blockchain or working mining procedure but was a multi-level marketing business where returns were subsidized by additional deposits of new investors.

The FBI estimates that investors worldwide lost more than $4 billion, though some assessments place total losses higher.

The Royal Court noted that Ignatova was given 28 days in November to object to the confiscation application.

There was no answer since Ignatova had not appeared in public since October 2017, when she vanished days after a sealed arrest warrant was issued in the United States.

She was subsequently the only female ever to be listed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, and authorities in the United States were willing to pay a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to her arrest.

German prosecutors, working with Guernsey authorities, have been seeking to recover proceeds from the sale of two London apartments previously owned by Ignatova through Guernsey-registered companies.

The properties, a penthouse and a smaller apartment, were placed under a Royal Court restraint order in November 2021 and later sold for more than £11 million.

After fees and taxes, about £8.8 million remained as of May 2024, forming the bulk of the confiscated sum.

OneCoin’s Inner Circle Faces Justice as Ignatova Mystery Drags On

This latest action fits into a broader pattern of asset recovery and legal fallout that has continued years after OneCoin’s collapse.

Several of Ignatova’s close associates have been convicted and sentenced.

In 2023, co-founder Sebastian Greenwood was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Other figures, including senior legal and financial facilitators, have also been jailed.

At the same time, questions about Ignatova’s fate remain unresolved.

Investigative reporting, including a 2023 and 2024 BBC investigation, has pointed to alleged links between Ignatova and Bulgarian organized crime figures.

This figure includes Hristoforos Nikos Amanatidis, known as “Taki,” who reportedly provided security during her escape.

There have been some indications that she was possibly murdered in 2018, perhaps on a yacht in the Ionian Sea, but law enforcement has emphasized that no concrete evidence has been presented.

This has made international agencies still treat her as a fugitive who may still be alive.

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