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A London penthouse that is believed to belong to Ruja Ignatova, the creator of the notorious OneCoin Ponzi scheme, is listed for sale with a guide price of aroud £11 million.
Ignatova, also known as the “missing Cryptoqueen,” reportedly claimed ownership of the property last week. She has been declared missing since 2017 when US officials issued a warrant for her arrest after masterminding a £3.2 billion cryptocurrency scam.
Located in the exclusive Abbots House apartment building in Kensington, the property is described as “an impressive four-bedroom penthouse” and is listed with a guide price of between £11 million to £2.5 million, less than the figure that Ignatova reportedly paid for it.
The disgraced founder of OneCoin is believed to have stayed at the property briefly in 2016. However, the property has since largely remained empty, other than occasional visits by people connected with OneCoin, including her brother Konstantin.
The property is owned by Abbots House Penthouse Limited, an anonymous Guernsey shell company, meaning that Ignatova’s name does not have to appear on land registry deeds or in public records.
The flat has been put up for sale by Knight Frank, a British independent real estate consultancy. Jamie Bartlett, the host of The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast, said the news was “one of the most interesting developments in the story.” He added:
“The world’s most wanted woman is now officially listed as the ultimate beneficial owner of a London penthouse. It suggests she is still alive, and there are documents out there somewhere which contain vital clues as to her recent whereabouts.”
Bartlett, who carried out an investigation with BBC back in 2021 in a bid to track down Ignatova and other members of OneCoin’s leadership, suggested that authorities could freeze that asset and “maybe even start getting money back to victims.”
Set up by Bulgaria-based offshore businesses OneCoin Ltd and OneLife Network Ltd which were registered in Dubai and Belize, investors in the OneCoin scam were promised guaranteed returns as high as 300%. US prosecutors allege OneCoin has scammed investors across the world out of $4 billion.
Ignatova was added to the FBI’s top 10 “most wanted” list in July last year. At the time, a bureau notice published offered a $100,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of Ignatova, who was charged in 2019 with eight counts including wire fraud and securities fraud.
She is believed to hiding using some high-quality fake identity documents and might have even changed her appearance. Ignatova was last seen boarding a flight from Bulgaria to Greece in 2017 and has been missing ever since.
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