Fugitive: ‘Cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova
A top City firm is preparing a lawsuit against the fugitive ‘cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova, who led a multi-billion pound cryptocurrency scam called OneCoin.
Mishcon de Reya, whose clients have included Princess Diana and anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller, is planning a class action lawsuit in the High Court, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The Bulgaria-based scheme has been dubbed ‘one of the biggest scams in history’, with Ignatova playing a central role in promoting it. She disappeared in 2017 and is on the FBI’s Most Wanted list with US authorities offering $250,000 (£200,000) for information leading to her arrest.
Mishcon aims to recover funds lost by investors in the fraud, with claimants able to sign up on a ‘no-win, no-fee’ basis.
‘The claim aims to achieve at least partial redress for investors taken in by the deception and who suffered losses as a result,’ said partner Rhymal Persad.
Launched in 2014, OneCoin marketed itself as a rival to Bitcoin, attracting investors worldwide with promises of huge returns.
Backers bought educational material and ‘tokens’ that the firm said could be converted into OneCoin cryptocurrency and would increase in value.
At its peak in mid-2017, the firm had amassed more than £4 billion, according to the US Department of Justice, despite growing warnings from regulators and signs it was functioning as a Ponzi scheme, where new investment pays existing backers rather than the firm making a profit.
The business effectively collapsed later that year after US authorities charged Ignatova with fraud and issued a warrant for her arrest, leaving investors billions of pounds out of pocket.
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