US authorities warn of Roja Ignatova’s disappearance since her disappearance in 2017.
Ruja Ignatova, also known as the “Disappearing Crypto Queen”, has been informed that police are investigating $4 billion worth of fraud that Ignatova committed before she disappeared.
Bulgarian-born Ignatova, 42, is prosecuted for her alleged role in running an investment fraud in a cryptocurrency known as OneCoin.
The BBC has seen documents from Europol (the European law enforcement agency) that a fugitive being pursued by the FBI was notified of an arrest effort, months before her disappearance.
The police documents were leaked to a podcast called “The Disappearing Queen of Crypto” hosted by Frank Schneider, a former client and trusted advisor to Ignatova.
Schneider denies seeking the documents, which he says were leaked to him via a USB stick by Ignatova.
Schneider claims that metadata contained in the files indicates that Ignatova obtained the information through her private contacts in Bulgaria.
Schneider is now facing extradition to the United States over his alleged role in the OneCoin scam.
Europol said it was investigating the case.
Ignatova disappeared from public view on October 25, 2017, after being notified that an extensive police investigation was being conducted into her cryptocurrency, OneCoin.
Last June, Roja Ignatova was added to the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” list.
FBI investigators believe Ignatova is traveling with armed guards
“satellite meeting”
Police documents contain conversations from a Europol satellite meeting in The Hague on March 15, 2017.
According to the documents, the meeting was attended by members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Department of Justice, and the New York Attorney General’s office.
The meeting was also attended by concerned officials from: the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Dubai, and Bulgaria.
The documents included details of a highly trusted secret agent used by US authorities, details of bank accounts funded by investors in the OneCoin cryptocurrency, as well as other details of an unsuccessful effort by the London police to interrogate Ignatova.
The FBI has not commented on the Europol documents, but a FBI special agent named Paul Roberts told the podcast: “Investigations are underway around the world into Ignatova and the OneCoin cryptocurrency in general, and Ignatova has learned about those investigations and about the legal procedures followed in her case. “.
US prosecutors in court in 2019 indicted Schneider for providing Ignatova with confidential police information, though it was unclear whether the allegations specifically related to the podcast leaks.
Schneider (left) in an interview with BBC journalist Jimmy Bartlett
Schneider denies possession of the documents, saying: “When Bulgarians participated in specific Europol meetings, it took hours for (Ignatova) to learn the details of the meetings.”
Schneider added: “I can conclude that she obtained the information through the circles she mixes with and through her contacts with a large network of influential people.”
The documents indicate the presence of figures from the Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior at the Europol agency meeting, which was held in March of 2017.
In turn, the BBC asked the Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior whether its elements were responsible for the leak, but the ministry did not respond to the BBC’s question.
None of the law enforcement agencies that attended the meeting could confirm how the information was leaked.
Europol told the BBC it was investigating, adding that “this scenario is complicated by the multiplicity of participants in the meeting, which makes it difficult to find out the truth.”
The US Department of Justice and the New York Attorney General’s office did not comment on the matter.
