BBC Investigation: ‘Crypto Queen’ Possibly Murdered by Bulgarian Drug Lord
Ruja Ignatova, famously known as the ‘crypto queen’ and the only woman on the FBI’s top 10 most wanted list, is suspected to have been murdered by a Bulgarian drug lord who also served as her bodyguard. The BBC’s investigation team has uncovered new evidence regarding the alleged murder of the cryptocurrency fraudster, who had connections to organized crime.
Ignatova, a notorious Bulgarian figure, was involved in promoting a fraudulent cryptocurrency called ‘OneCoin’ in 2014. She managed to convince millions of users to invest in the cryptocurrency by promising significant returns. However, she later disappeared with investors’ funds, which were valued at $4.5 billion at the time.
The scale of the scam attracted global attention and resulted in the arrest of several individuals involved in the Ponzi scheme. The latest arrest was that of William Morro, an accomplice in the OneCoin operation, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in connection with the case.
For the past year, BBC World Service’s Eye Investigations and Panorama have been investigating Ignatova’s whereabouts, according to the report.
Ignatova allegedly hired a Bulgarian drug kingpin named Hristoforos Nikos Amanatidis, also known as Taki, to protect her during her escape. Taki, who is connected to armed robberies and murder, received a monthly compensation of €100,000 for his services. He is currently believed to be living in one of Ignatova’s luxurious penthouses in Dubai, where her bank account received millions of dollars from the fraudulent scheme.
Taki, described as the head of the Bulgarian mafia, is considered to be extremely powerful, according to former Bulgarian deputy minister Ivan Hristanov.
The question of whether the ‘Missing Crypto Queen’ is dead or alive has been a topic of speculation. Bulgarian investigative journalist Dimitar Stoyanov first reported Ignatova’s murder in 2022. Stoyanov and his colleagues obtained a police document that was found at the home of a murdered Bulgarian police officer. The document indicated that Ignatova was murdered in 2018 on Taki’s orders, and her body was dismembered and dumped into the Ionian Sea off the coast of Greece.
Bulgarian officials have confirmed the authenticity of the document and believe the theory to be true, according to Stoyanov. However, previous reports have identified Hristo Hristov as the perpetrator of the murder. Hristov was later arrested in the Netherlands on unrelated drug smuggling charges.
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