Key Insights
- Global asset freeze issued against Ruja Ignatova, the fugitive founder of the $4.5 billion OneCoin cryptocurrency scam.
- The freezing order is part of a group action brought by over 400 OneCoin investors seeking compensation for their losses.
- The order also targets other individuals and companies alleged to be connected to the OneCoin fraud, including the scheme’s co-founder and promoters.
LONDON (MarketsXplora) – A global asset freezing order has been issued against Ruja Ignatova, the fugitive mastermind behind the $4.5 billion cryptocurrency scam known as OneCoin, in a bid to compensate defrauded investors.
Ignatova, dubbed the “Missing Cryptoqueen,” has been on the run from authorities since 2016 when she disappeared after boarding a Ryanair flight from Bulgaria to Greece. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to her arrest.
OneCoin Fraud Victims Seek Compensation
The freezing order, made public on Wednesday at the High Court in London, is part of a group action brought by more than 400 OneCoin investors seeking compensation for their losses. The claim is being led by Jennifer McAdam, a Scottish woman who says she and her friends and family lost over £200,000 in the scheme.
“I have seen first hand the toll this fraud has taken on so many lives,” McAdam said. “The stories of victims are utterly heart-breaking and the financial ruin they have been left in is unbearable.”
The order not only targets Ignatova but also seven other individuals and four companies alleged to be connected to OneCoin. This includes OneCoin co-founder Sebastian Greenwood, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence in the U.S. for his role in the fraud.
British businessmen Christopher Hamilton and Robert MacDonald, who are accused by U.S. authorities of laundering OneCoin proceeds, are also subject to the freeze. However, attempts to extradite them to the U.S. have so far been unsuccessful.
The order also covers two Guernsey-based companies used by Ignatova to purchase a £13.5 million penthouse in Kensington, London, and a £1.9 million apartment in the same building for her bodyguards.
Additionally, several OneCoin promoters, who may have also suffered losses when the scheme collapsed, are included in the asset freeze. These include Kari Wahlroos, Muhammad Zafar, and brothers Moynul and Monirul Islam.
Lawyers for the Islam brothers argued that their clients were also deceived by OneCoin, much like the investors represented by McAdam. However, the court emphasized that the claimants must explain why they should be treated differently from the “tens of thousands of other investors” in the scheme.
Read also! Mark Scott Jailed for 10 Years For Laundering $400 Million in OneCoin Scam
The global asset freeze marks a significant development in the long-running pursuit of justice for the victims of the OneCoin scandal, which the BBC estimates resulted in losses of over £100 million in the UK alone.