The recent murder of Bulgarian national Krasimir Kamenov in Cape Town has uncovered a complex web of connections, revealing ties between a convicted fraudster dubbed the ‘CryptoQueen’ and South Africa.
Ruja Ignatova is the founder of OneCoin, also known as OneLife, a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme founded in 2014. Ignatova is currently one of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) top ten most wanted suspects in the United States.
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A recent article by Daily Maverick noted a series of links surrounding the murder of Krasimir Kamenov and its ties to the convicted fraudster and fugitive Ruja Ignatova.
Kamenov, along with his wife Gergana and two others, was shot in Constantia on 25 May 2023. Prior to his murder, Kamenov had been named in a conspiracy against Bulgaria’s public prosecutor, hinting at the presence of criminal elements within Bulgaria’s government.
According to Daily Maverick’s most recent report on the subject, Kamenov was also wanted in connection with the assassination of a former policeman, Lyubomir Ivanov, in Sofia in March of the previous year. This particular matter leads back to Ignatova, as documents found in Ivanov’s home following his murder suggest that Ignatova herself may have been killed in November 2018. However, there is reportedly no official confirmation of her death, leaving room for uncertainty.
The Bureau of Investigative Reporting and Data in Bulgaria revealed shortly after Kamenov’s murder that he had been their source for police reports regarding Ignatova’s alleged murder. They also claimed that Kamenov was about to provide additional information to US investigators.
Despite ongoing investigations in the Western Cape, no breakthroughs have been announced, highlighting potential overlaps between South Africa’s and Bulgaria’s criminal underworlds, according to Daily Maverick.
Ignatova’s connections seemingly extend to South Africa as well. Based on a Facebook account and YouTube videos, it seemed that OneCoin had established a presence in South Africa. However, insights gathered by Daily Maverick from an individual knowledgeable about such schemes reveal that it failed to make significant headway here. Notably, according to the US Internal Revenue Service, OneCoin amassed a staggering €4.037 billion in sales revenue and claimed ‘profits’ of €2.735 billion between the fourth quarter of 2014 and the fourth quarter of 2016.
Ignatova reportedly disappeared abruptly in October 2017, leaving her younger brother, Konstantin Ignatov, to take over the leadership of OneCoin. Photographs on Konstantin’s Instagram account from around five years ago indicate that he was in Cape Town, according to Daily Maverick.
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While his presence in the city does not indicate any legal wrongdoing, it does provide additional evidence of Bulgarian organised crime figures visiting or residing in South Africa, as Daily Maverick emphasises.
Konstantin Ignatov was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport in March 2019 and later convicted in the United States for his involvement in OneCoin. Duncan Arthur, who has dual South African and Irish citizenship, was with him at the time of his arrest.
Arthur, a former compliance head for Standard Bank Africa, was personally hired by Ignatova and became involved in the OneCoin saga, according to a document addressed to Bulgaria’s Department of Justice. This document, dated February of this year, was written by Arthur, and its authenticity has been confirmed by Daily Maverick.
Arthur had several interactions with Ignatova, her brother and their lawyer, Irina Dilkinska, according to the document.
According to Daily Maverick, the document also mentions a lavish celebration at a Sozopol mansion that Ignatova hired for her daughter’s christening. Arthur refutes claims that Ignatova was murdered at sea in 2018, claiming that Ignatov communicated with his sister until March 2019. This suggests that Ignatov communicated with Ignatova while in South Africa in 2018, the same year as the alleged murder.
The FBI is currently offering a reward of up to $250 000 for information leading to Ignatova’s arrest. It is believed that she may have changed her appearance, possibly through plastic surgery and travels with guards and associates to avoid capture.
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