As Colleague Cops Wire Fraud Plea, OneCoin “Cryptoqueen” Remains on FBI’s Most Wanted List
OneCoin “compliance officer” Irina Dilkinska pled guilty to money laundering and wire fraud in a Manhattan federal court on November 9, as part of a worldwide cryptocurrency scheme that prosecutors said ensnared as many as 3 million participants. Meanwhile, OneCoin co-founder Ruja Ignatova–otherwise known as the “Cryptoqueen”–has not been seen since 2017, after boarding a flight from Bulgaria to Greece. She’s on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted List.
| 26 Nov 2023 | 07:48
Ruja Ignatova, the founder of OneCoin and a target on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, has not been seen since 2017. She was hit with wire fraud and money laundering charges. Her colleague at OneCoin, Irina Dilkinska, pleaded guilty to similar charges. (
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A compliance officer for the disgraced crypto outfit OneCoin pled guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in a Manhattan federal court, after the operation she helped oversee was deemed a “pyramid scheme” by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Irina Dilkinska, 42 and a resident of Bulgaria, could face up to 10 years in prison after copping to one count of each crime on November 9.
Meanwhile, a colleague dubbed the “Cryptoqueen”–who disappeared after boarding a flight to Greece in 2017–remains on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted List (she first made the list in June 2022). Ruja Ignatova, a co-founder of the company, had received similar charges shortly before disappearing.
OneCoin was dubbed a “fraudulent pyramid scheme” by prosecutors. The FBI is offering $100,000 for any information leading to her arrest.
“As OneCoin’s so-called ‘Head of Legal and Compliance’ Irina Dilkinska accomplished the exact opposite goal of her position,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.
“As she has now admitted, Dilkinska facilitated the laundering of millions of dollars of illicit profits OneCoin accrued through its multi-level marketing scheme [MLM],” he added.
According to prosecutors, OneCoin’s MLM functioned through an elaborate recruitment process, whereby members of the company received commissions for bringing on new converts. They claim that a stunning three million people invested in “fraudulent” crypto packages through OneCoin. In the span of two years between 2014 and 2016, the company reportedly generated €2.735 billion in MLM-derived “profits.”
Prosecutors laid out one particularly large instance of Dilkinska’s wrongdoing, claiming that she had arranged for the transfer of $110 million in fraudulent OneCoin proceeds to an “entity” in the Cayman Islands.
U.S. Attorney Williams praised the IRS and the FBI, who conducted the investigation against OneCoin along with special agents from his office.