In Pursuit With John Walsh on ID: Why is Ruja Ignatova still on FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list?

The Bulgarian-German entrepreneur, Ruja Ignatova, who ran the multimillion-dollar scam business of OneCoin, has been on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list since June 2022. Ignatova disappeared into thin air after she was tipped about an arrest warrant filed in her and her brother, Konstantin Ignatova's names.

While there have been multiple reports about Ignatova's death under the command of the Bulgarian crime lord, Taki or Hristoforos Nikos Amanatidis, the FBI continues their endeavors to locate her owing to a lack of definitive proof, as per BBC News.

The new episode of In Pursuit With John Walsh, titled Crypto Queenpin, follows the story of Ruja Ignatova's escape from law as it airs on June 19, 2024, at 10 p.m. EST on Investigation Discovery. The official synopsis reads,

"John takes on accused financial fraudster Ruja Ignatova, whose alleged crypto con landed her on the FBI's top ten most wanted list; Callahan heads to Pennsylvania on the trail of Freddy Calle, accused of s**ually abusing a teenage girl."

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Why is Ruja Ignatova a wanted woman?

The sixth episode of season 5 of In Pursuit with John Walsh showcases the pursuit of Ruja Ignatova before and after she was included in the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Ignatova founded the dubious pyramid scheme called OneCoin in 2014 and scammed investors from multiple nations, including Bulgaria, Finland, India, China, Germany, Thailand, Sweden, Vietnam, Norway, and Latvia.

OneCoin was introduced as a simple-to-use cryptocurrency with a multi-level marketing (MLM) structure. However, it began to be flagged down by multiple financial institutions over the risks of its credibility as a legitimate currency.

As law enforcement agencies began to get involved in the process, the investigators realized that OneCoin lacked any blockchain technology at all. This was in contrast to the advertisements Ignatova made comparing OneCoin to BitCoin.

The prosecutors from the United States determined that OneCoin had duped investors of $4 billion worldwide, per Reuters. While a secret arrest warrant was filed for Ignatova and her brother, Konstantin, she took a Ryanair flight from Sofia, Bulgaria, in October 2017 and was never to be seen again, as per BBC News.

Ruja Ignatova was charged with multiple counts of money laundering, wire fraud, and securities fraud. She has been the subject of multiple investigations from Germany, Bulgaria, and the United States.

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How was Ruja Ignatova linked to the Bulgarian underworld?

According to multiple BBC reports and a 2023 special investigative report by the Bureau of Investigative Reporting and Data, Hristoforos Nikos Amanatidis, commonly known as Taki in the organized crime and drug underworld, was mentioned as Ignatova's business associate.

According to BBC News, an assistant attorney with the United States shared,

“We do have evidence that a very significant, if not the most prolific, drug trafficker of all time in Bulgaria, was closely linked to OneCoin - served as [Ruja Ignatova’s] personal security guard.”

Leaked Europol documents and Bulgarian police reports further confirmed this belief, as the bird.bg report further mentioned Taki's brother-in-law, Georgi Vasilev, to drunkenly share about Ignatova's alleged execution in 2018. The Bulgarian police believed that Taki used OneCoin's network to launder his money, while Ignatova allegedly paid him €100,000 for protection every month.

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Catch all the details in the new episode of In Pursuit with John Walsh as it airs on Investigation Discovery on Wednesday.