CRYPTOCURRENCY
A UK court ordered a global asset freeze for the ‘Cryptoqueen’ and her OneCoin associates
ICIJ previously found that OneCoin’s founder Ruja Ignatova and some of her associates had bought properties worth millions in Dubai while promoting the fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme.
A British law firm representing a group of OneCoin investors said that a London court has issued worldwide freezing orders on assets belonging to Bulgarian fraudster Ruja Ignatova and some of her associates, months after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and its media partners revealed the promoters of the fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme invested in luxury properties in the United Arab Emirates.
International authorities have accused Ignatova of being the mastermind of a $4 billion pyramid scheme that has claimed more than 3.5 million victims around the world since its launch in 2014.
Ignatova went missing in 2018, shortly after the U.S. Justice Department indicted her on fraud and money laundering charges.
According to ICIJ’s media partner Bird, files seized by Sofia police during a search of a slain police officer’s home appear to show that Ignatova was later killed on a yacht in Greece on the order of a Bulgarian mafia boss. But some news outlets have questioned that account.
The London High Court’s decision, made public earlier this month, was part of a legal claim brought by a group of more than 400 OneCoin investors who are seeking damages to compensate them for the losses they suffered as a result of the alleged fraud, according to their lawyers at Mishcon de Reya LLP. Besides Ignatova, the order targeted seven people allegedly connected to OneCoin and two Guernsey companies used by Ignatova to buy two London properties, according to the BBC, which has reported on the scam extensively.
“This is a really important step for victims who have been seeking justice for the fraud that has been perpetrated against them,” Mishcon de Reya’s partner Rhymal Persad said in a statement published on the law firm’s website. “It has taken a long time to get to this point, but this is a significant step to ensure those allegedly responsible for carrying out these unlawful acts are properly held to account.”
ICIJ previously reported that, in 2015, Ignatova used a Dubai shell company called Oceana Properties Ltd. to buy a $2.7 million penthouse apartment on the top floor of a skyscraper overlooking Palm Jumeirah, an archipelago of artificial islands in the Persian Gulf.
Like Ignatova, at least 11 of her associates owned some of Dubai’s most exclusive properties over the last nine years, the investigation revealed.
The findings were part of Dubai Unlocked, an investigation into the role of the emirate as an investment hub for criminals and suspects. The project was coordinated by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and Norwegian financial outlet E24. It was based on leaked confidential Dubai land records obtained by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that analyzes data on transnational security matters.
According to the Dubai records, the buyers included OneCoin’s co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood, who is serving a 20-year sentence in the U.S. for his involvement in the OneCoin scheme; and Kari Wahlroos, a Finnish businessman who presented himself as OneCoin’s “European ambassador” at promotional events organized by the company. Greenwood declined to answer ICIJ partners’ questions. Wahlroos, who has not been charged, told Finnish broadcaster YLE that he owned several apartments in Dubai. He denied knowing that the company was used to launder money, as alleged by prosecutors. “I’ve never had a penny to do with OneCoin itself,” Wahlroos said.
Both Greenwood and Walhroos are among the subjects of the global asset freeze alongside Ignatova, the BBC reported.
It is not clear if the freezing order, which is intended to prevent the defendants from disposing of their assets, will have any immediate effect. The order may not be enforceable unless the courts in the countries where the assets are located formally acknowledge and recognize it.
Jonathan Levy, a lawyer representing other OneCoin fraud victims, told ICIJ he was skeptical about the order’s effects, considering that “nobody knows where Ignatova is.” He said that there are $2 billion worth of assets connected to the scheme yet to be “uncovered” around the world and that are unlikely to be in England, where the asset freeze would have the most impact.
In 2019, after several banks flagged transactions involving the “Cryptoqueen” and her companies as suspicious, Ignatova’s company Oceana Properties finalized the sale of her luxurious Dubai flat.
A title deed obtained by ICIJ’s partner Paper Trail Media shows that a young British lawyer bought the apartment for about $1.6 million. It is not clear who handled the sale on behalf of Ignatova and pocketed the money. The lawyer who bought the property did not respond to reporters’ questions.
Ignatova remains on the FBI’s list of most wanted fugitives. The agency considers her to be alive “until there is documented evidence that she is dead,” a spokesperson told ICIJ.
The U.S. government recently increased the reward offered “for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Ruja Ignatova” to $5 million.