Human Resources MagazineHuman Resources Magazine

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest Human Resources news and updates from around the world.

    What's Hot

    Gen X least satisfied cohort at work

    September 29, 2023

    Half of parents consider quitting over office mandates

    September 29, 2023

    We need to prepare for the AI revolution – and soon

    September 29, 2023
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms
    • Contact
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Saturday, September 30
    Human Resources MagazineHuman Resources Magazine
    Demo
    • Home
    • News
    • Boardroom
    • HR Careers
    • Leadership
    • Human Capital
    • Recruitment
    • HR Software
    • Culture
    • Tech
    Human Resources MagazineHuman Resources Magazine
    Home » Inside the life and crimes of the new addition to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Ruja Ignatova – Top Media Moguls Press Distrubtion
    Trending

    Inside the life and crimes of the new addition to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Ruja Ignatova – Top Media Moguls Press Distrubtion

    September 22, 2022No Comments5 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Telegram Pinterest Tumblr
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    It’s not hard to draw similarities between Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos infamy and Ruja Ignatova — the brilliant Bulgarian-German scam master behind the OneCoin swindle, history’s second biggest fraud after Bernie Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi con.

    Both were charismatic star students with huge ambitions who used charm and good looks to convince people to throw fistfuls of money at their sketchy start-ups. Each also hooked up with a male lover who helped them rip off millions from dupes.

    The one big difference: Holmes, who was recently convicted of defrauding investors, faces 20 years in jail and is reportedly flat broke, while the 42-year-old Ignatova remains on the lam after having vanished in 2017 with a fortune — leaving customers to eat some $4 billion in losses and her ex-partners to face jail time.

    “The Missing Crypto Queen: The Billion Dollar Cryptocurrency Con and the Woman Who Got Way With It,” a new book out now from British investigative reporter Jamie Bartlett, chronicles Ignatova’s journey from a working-class family in the Bulgarian port town of Ruse to becoming a star at McKinsey & Company and, as of June, being named as the newest member of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.

    Those humble beginnings fueled her quest. As Bartlett writes: “She desperately wanted to be rich.”

    Following the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Ignatova family moved from Bulgaria to Schramberg, Germany, in 1990, when Ruja was 10. Her father found work in a tire shop and they lived in a small apartment above a butcher shop.

    “Even by the standards of demanding parents, Ruja was exceptional,” Bartlett writes.

    “In school, she was top of every class, brilliant in every subject. One teacher in Schramberg said she was the smartest student he’d ever taught.”

    “Fellow students found her aloof and arrogant,” according to the book, as “16-year-old Ruja strutted around the corridors in high heels and bright-red lipstick like she was too good for the place. ‘Nobody got really close to her,’ one schoolmate later recalled.”

    At 18, she won a prestigious scholarship to Konstanz University, considered the “Harvard of Germany,” earning a doctorate in law in 2005. She then added a masters degree in comparative European law from Oxford.

    But, Bartlett writes, “It was always the same story: she stood out as painfully clever yet aloof. Always distant, always top.”

    Ruja joined the McKinsey consulting office in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2008 and was soon repping some of the top banks in the world. Since she spoke fluent Russian, she often flew to Moscow to, as the book says, “help the Russian banks tap into the European markets.”

    “She was one of those people you could email any time of day or night and receive a reply within minutes,” Bartlett writes. “‘I don’t want children,’ she used to tell co-workers in her slightly cold and matter-of-fact way. ‘I’m far too busy trying to change the world for anything like that!’”

    But after the financial crisis in 2009, the office closed and Ruja was out of a job. She briefly worked for Bulgaria’s biggest investment firm, though she clearly wanted more. At one point, the books says, she considered launching a line of cosmetics, adding, “She was becoming a recognizable face within the city’s fashion, business and politics scene. And yet she still wasn’t rich.

    “That same niggling fear of unrealized potential still stalked her. Although she now had a few business interests of her own, they weren’t making change-your-life money. Around this time, Ruja started researching Bitcoin.”

    This was early in 2013. Bitcoin was gaining momentum — with its price surging past $500 — but also critics, who complained about it being used by drug dealers and money launderers.

    Ruja was convinced she could “create her own less anarchic version,” Bartlett writes.

    In November of that year, she attended a cryptocurrency seminar in Singapore, where she snagged a speaker’s slot and pitched an idea: a crypto-based pension plan. The concept “wasn’t especially memorable and she wasn’t a brilliant speaker either,” writes Bartlett. “But she clearly understood finance and banking.”

    In attendance was the man who would soon become her partner, Sebastian Greenwood.

    “Have you considered multi-level marketing?” he suggested, according to the book.

    Together they hatched a plan to launch OneCoin, which Ruja dubbed the “Bitcoin killer,” and “the future of money.”

    And she knew how to sell her product — by selling herself.

    At an over-the-top pitch event at London’s Wembley Arena in 2016, Ignatova took the stage in a ball gown as Alicia Keys’ “This Girl Is on Fire!” blasted from speakers. “She strode out confidently, her long black hair, the deep-red lipstick, the embellished red gown glittering under the spotlights, the diamond earrings – everything exhibited success and glamour,” Bartlett writes.

    A team of MLM veterans also hyped her new currency, and as with other such firms, convinced buyers to rope in friends and family members to sell OneCoin to everyone they knew, according to the book.

    Rather than peddling the currency, Ruja sold videos and pamphlets on how to invest in crypto — and gave away armfuls of OneCoin with every purchase. The educational content might have been of interest to some, but the currency was the real prize, particularly at the sky-high prices the company charged for packages. The top option, dubbed “Tycoon Trader,” cost €5,000.

     

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

    Related Articles

    Robot Thyroidectomy is becoming a lot more preferred in India as a result of the latest RABIT technique

    September 26, 2023

    Global Media Kit Debuts AI-Powered Human Avatars, Setting a New Standard in Omnichannel Media Buying”

    September 19, 2023

    Carolyn M Rubin is a paints a fantastic illustration of what it means to be a strong leader

    September 17, 2023

    Barbara Amerio is a wonderful example of what it means to possess strength as a leader

    September 17, 2023

    Amy Sinton rightly demonstrates the trait of being a profound leader and an award-winning life & business coach

    September 16, 2023

    Unified Brainz was delighted to present Fatimata Kane in the prestigious list of world leaders

    September 16, 2023
    Add A Comment

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Don't Miss
    News

    Half of parents consider quitting over office mandates

    By Press RoomSeptember 29, 2023

    Half (50%) of UK working parents are looking for new roles because of their…

    We need to prepare for the AI revolution – and soon

    September 29, 2023

    Who are the ‘global majority’?

    September 28, 2023

    Majority of low paid workers using foodbanks

    September 28, 2023

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest Human Resources news and updates from around the world.

    Our Picks

    Half of third-sector workers leave for higher pay

    September 27, 2023

    Cultural heritage not relevant to sexual harassment, tribunal finds

    September 27, 2023

    Robot Thyroidectomy is becoming a lot more preferred in India as a result of the latest RABIT technique

    September 26, 2023

    Sick leave hits 10-year high in cost of living crisis

    September 26, 2023
    About Us
    About Us

    Human Resources Magazine is a dedicated news portal about Human Resources and all that matters to emplyees and leaders in the business section.

    Our Picks

    Gen X least satisfied cohort at work

    September 29, 2023

    Half of parents consider quitting over office mandates

    September 29, 2023

    We need to prepare for the AI revolution – and soon

    September 29, 2023
    Trending Now

    How the climate crisis is transforming HR

    August 2, 2023

    Greggs worker wins race harassment case

    July 28, 2023

    Return-to-office mandates are failing worldwide, study finds

    August 15, 2023
    Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
    • Home
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Contact
    © 2023 Human Resources Magazine. All rights reserved.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.