OneCoin
Fake-cryptocurrency Ponzi/MLM (2014-17) that took $4B+ from 3.5M victims; co-founders convicted in US; founder Ruja Ignatova remains an FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive with a $5M reward.
**OneCoin Ltd**, founded in 2014 in Sofia, Bulgaria by Ruja Ignatova ("Cryptoqueen") and Karl Sebastian Greenwood, sold a purported cryptocurrency through a global multi-level-marketing network. OneCoin had no real public blockchain and the coins were worthless. Per DOJ, the scheme generated over **$4 billion** from more than **3.5 million victims** (over $4B in sales between Q4 2014 and Q4 2016 alone).
Ignatova flew from Sofia to Athens on October 25, 2017 and has been a fugitive since. She was added to the FBI's **Ten Most Wanted** list in June 2022, and on June 26, 2024 the State Department raised the reward from $250,000 to **up to $5 million** under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program. As of 2026 she remains at large, with investigators pursuing leads including offshore property holdings.
Adjudicated outcomes (SDNY, Judge Edgardo Ramos): Greenwood pleaded guilty and was sentenced to **20 years** on September 12, 2023, forfeiting ~$300 million. Former Locke Lord partner **Mark Scott** was convicted at trial in November 2019 of laundering ~**$400 million** of proceeds through offshore funds and sentenced to **10 years** on January 25, 2024. Ignatova's brother Konstantin Ignatov, a cooperating witness, was sentenced to time served (34 months) in March 2024.
Latest development: DOJ opened a victim compensation (remission) process using forfeited assets — over **$40 million** available, administered by Kroll via onecoinremission.com, with a claims deadline of **June 30, 2026**.
Sources: [DOJ SDNY — Greenwood sentenced](https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/co-founder-multibillion-dollar-cryptocurrency-scheme-onecoin-sentenced-20-years-prison) | [DOJ SDNY — Scott sentenced](https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-law-firm-partner-sentenced-10-years-prison-laundering-400-million-onecoin-fraud) | [State Dept — $5M reward](https://2021-2025.state.gov/up-to-5-million-reward-offer-for-information-leading-to-arrest-and-or-conviction-of-cryptocurrency-fraudster-ruja-ignatova/) | [DOJ — victim compensation process](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-compensation-process-onecoin-fraud-victims-funds-recovered) | [FBI — Ten Most Wanted](https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/ruja-ignatova-added-to-fbis-ten-most-wanted-fugitives-list)
**Official action:** SDNY convictions: Greenwood 20 yrs + $300M forfeiture (Sept 2023), Scott 10 yrs (Jan 2024); Ignatova on FBI Ten Most Wanted with $5M State Dept reward (June 2024); DOJ victim remission open until June 30, 2026
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