- The UK High Court has issued a worldwide asset-freezing order against OneCoin’s founder Dr. Ruja Ignatova
- The court has also frozen the assets of co-founder Sebastian Greenwood and Ignatova’s associates, Christopher Hamilton and Robert MacDonald
- This order follows similar actions against Craig Wright but is expected to have less impact on Ignatova
OneCoin’s fugitive founder, Dr Ruja Ignatova, has been handed a worldwide asset-freezing order (WFO) following a campaign by 400 of her victims. The UK High Court ruled yesterday that the assets of Ignatova and OneCoin co-founder Sebastian Greenwood should be frozen, along with associates Christopher Hamilton and Robert MacDonald. This is the same punishment meted out to another fraudster, Australian Craig Wright, following his defeat to the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) earlier this year, although it is thought that the order against Dr Ignatova will have less impact.
Ignatova Missing Since 2017
Ruja Ignatova has remained elusive since she vanished over six years ago after disembarking from a Ryanair flight in Athens, Greece, at the time of a police investigation into OneCoin. Recently, her ties to the Bulgarian criminal underworld and a suspected organized crime boss, who may have played a role in her disappearance, were brought to light by a BBC investigation.
Despite extensive efforts, OneCoin investors have yet to secure significant compensation for their losses, mirroring the ongoing and fruitless search for Ignatova. US authorities continue to offer a $5 million reward for any information leading to her capture.
Yesterday, a WFO was disclosed at London’s High Court as part of a collective legal action initiated by more than 400 OneCoin investors, led by Jennifer McAdam, who, along with her friends and family, lost over $255,000 in the fraudulent scheme. McAdam, who first shared her story in 2019 through the BBC’s “Missing Cryptoqueen” podcast, had convinced her closest circle to invest in OneCoin before realizing it was a scam. Her story is echoed by other victims worldwide, including those in Uganda and the US.
Multiple Individuals and Companies Targeted
The freezing order targets not only Ignatova but also seven other individuals and four companies linked to OneCoin. Among them is OneCoin’s co-founder, Sebastian Greenwood, currently serving a 20-year sentence in a US prison for his involvement in the fraud
British businessmen Christopher Hamilton and Robert MacDonald, accused of laundering OneCoin proceeds, are also included, although efforts to extradite them to the US have so far been unsuccessful.
Additionally, the freeze extends to two Guernsey companies, which, according to the BBC, were used by Ignatova to purchase luxurious properties in Kensington. The freeze also impacts several OneCoin promoters, who, while possibly victims themselves, are alleged to have profited significantly by recruiting new investors into the scheme.
Given that Dr Ignatova isn’t thought to be using traditional finances routes to stay underground, however, it isn’t thought that the WFO will have as big an impact as could be hoped, at least not initially. There have even ben reports that she has died, although these have not been verified.
Craig Wright Also Hit by WFOs
Dr Ignatova isn’t the only crypto fraudster to be hit with freezing orders in recent months. Craig Wright, who fled the UK following his defeat to COPA earlier this year, has had two significant WFOs issued against him by the UK High Court in recent years. The first was a WFO issued to cover approximately $1.9 million in legal fees owed to Peter McCormack, a podcaster whom Wright unsuccessfully sued for defamation.
Wright faced an even more substantial WFO related to his battle with the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), which involved around $8.4 million in court costs. These WFOs were unsurprising, given that Wright boasted to his paid-for online community in 2018 that “No lawsuit can do shit. I have so many levels of trusts…God could not sue a cent out of me. I paid 10s of millions to be globally judgement proof.”
Wright stumped up the cash to pay his legal debts within days of the WFOs.
