Transcript text: The Cryptoqueen, also known as Ruja Ignatova, is a GermanBulgarian businesswoman, who founded an International cryptocurrency company called OneCoin. A cryptocurrency is digital money you can use to pay people online, without banks. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency and it is still the biggest and best-known. People have made a lot of money buying and selling bitcoins. Ruja Ignatova convinced a lot of people to invest their savings in OneCoin and then she disappeared with all their money.
They admired, trusted and wanted to be like her. Ruja Ignatova was one of the most charismatic and glamorous businesswomen around, always appearing on stage wearing a ball gown, long diamond earrings and bright red lipstick. She seemed to be richer and more successful than everybody else. She owned a luxury yacht, rented a penthouse in London's exclusive Kensington district and threw expensive parties. She is also extremely intelligent and well-educated. She got a doctorate from Konstanz University in Germany, a Master's degree in Law from Oxford University in the UK, and worked at the established US management consultancy company McKinsey and Company.
But things began to change for the Cryptoqueen. Some people suspected that OneCoin was a dishonest scheme. Despite this, Dr Ruja continued travelling the world looking for new investors. Then, in October 2017, she didn't appear at a OneCoin promotion event in Lisbon. In fact she had disappeared and nobody knew where she was. Many journalists, investors and the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were looking for her.
In March 2019 the FBI arrested her brother Konstantin and charged him with fraud. They then also charged Ruja Ignatova with fraud, although they didn't know where she was. Some people think she has changed her identity and maybe even her face with expensive plastic surgery. It's impossible to be sure. But what is certain is that the people who lost their money to OneCoin are no closer to getting it back.