British police seize $408 million and arrest woman aged 39

[btc78]

I don't know why the British police didn't mention the name of the woman they arrested or the cryptocurrencies they seized, they should have explained this information more accurately!!!

Maybe they have reason why they still holding the details inside the arrest , maybe there are follow up investigation and they don't want those other participants to be alerted and flew out of the country while in Hunt , remember that this cost millions of dolalrs so there is no impossible for them to do.

In any case, I think that they will fill the world with noise because of cryptocurrencies because the first charge they are trying to attach to cryptocurrencies is money laundering, so this case will be a very good opportunity for them.

And i believe that is what they are imposing to happen .

Money laundering is a crime punishable by law in all countries and it existed before the existence of cryptocurrencies and of course it became easier after the existence of cryptocurrencies, but criminals should be punished instead of blaming cryptocurrencies because criminals do not refrain from using any means to launder their dirty money. Also, these governments should be blamed for their failure to regulate cryptocurrencies, which leads to the further spread of such cases.

I have not read anything about Them Blaming crypto ? if there are someone to be blamed here ? those are the Stupid investors that still believes in  Sugar coated lips of these scammers.

[xSkylarx]

I don't know why the British police didn't mention the name of the woman they arrested or the cryptocurrencies they seized, they should have explained this information more accurately!!!

Maybe they have reason why they still holding the details inside the arrest , maybe there are follow up investigation and they don't want those other participants to be alerted and flew out of the country while in Hunt , remember that this cost millions of dolalrs so there is no impossible for them to do.

In any case, I think that they will fill the world with noise because of cryptocurrencies because the first charge they are trying to attach to cryptocurrencies is money laundering, so this case will be a very good opportunity for them.

And i believe that is what they are imposing to happen .

Money laundering is a crime punishable by law in all countries and it existed before the existence of cryptocurrencies and of course it became easier after the existence of cryptocurrencies, but criminals should be punished instead of blaming cryptocurrencies because criminals do not refrain from using any means to launder their dirty money. Also, these governments should be blamed for their failure to regulate cryptocurrencies, which leads to the further spread of such cases.

I have not read anything about Them Blaming crypto ? if there are someone to be blamed here ? those are the Stupid investors that still believes in  Sugar coated lips of these scammers.

You are correct; I believe she is not the only one involved in this type of ponzi scheme and does not want some information made public so that others can be arrested. This is the first time I've heard of someone being caught in a ponzi scheme in crypto. We all know there are a lot of ponzi schemes right now, and I'm not sure what the status is after they run the money.I don't think the police or the authorities caught any of these people, but now that I've read this, I think it's really good news.

[Kong Hey Pakboy]

I don't know why the British police didn't mention the name of the woman they arrested or the cryptocurrencies they seized, they should have explained this information more accurately!!! In any case, I think that they will fill the world with noise because of cryptocurrencies because the first charge they are trying to attach to cryptocurrencies is money laundering, so this case will be a very good opportunity for them.

Probably because the investigation is still ongoing so they don't have to worry that the public will get in when the investigation is still on the way and until they find everything that they need to have the damning evidences presented. I think that not revealing the name is a standard procedure for many police around the world.

[Lorence.xD]

What's going to happen to the money that was seized by the authorities? Will it be considered an evidence so it won't be circulated? I think that's how they do it when it comes to this seized assets and currency no matter what happens. That's a lot of cryptocurrency for someone not known among the crypto circles, I am sure that this is a big laundering thing because that amount of money isn't parked for a long time unless they want to clean something through cryptocurrency.

[Renampun]

...

I didn't read the news to the end but I hope it's really her...

The Ponzi scheme carried out by the founders of One Coin is the largest in the history of cryptocurrencies and has caused great damage. it is proper for fraudsters who use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like this to be in prison for life and even death.

[peter0425]

British police seize record $408 million haul of cryptocurrency

It's big news a 39 year old woman was arrested in connection with money laundering in excess of £114 million cryptocurrency. The same woman's being questioned by British police after more than £180 million of cryptocurrency was discovered later. They've linked over £294 million of cryptocurrency directly to her, that's $408 million. Maybe they'll find more.

The first name in my head was Ruscha Ignatowa she's a Bulgarian fraudster. She was a founder of the One Coin ponzi but wiki shows her age at 41 not 39. She's been sentenced by US authorities for wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering.

British police didn't name the woman they'd arrested or name the cryptocurrencies they seized but if it's her it's certain she'll get extradited to the US where she'll face up to 90 years jail for the ponzi.

408 million dollars are huge amount to be seized by the government .

and this proves how good the UK authority in seeking for their victims people .

[Shenzou]

With the nature of cryptocurrency and how annonymous it is , you would think thta people who would use it for no good would never get found and the criminals themselves would prove to be smarter than the usla ones that use fiat, but time and time again this is proven wrong with people getting busted for laundaring millions of dollars, it is a good thing to see the bad ones get caught but it also makes you question how anonymous using crypto is if it is at all.

[buwaytress]

Think you're right OP. If it's that amount of crypto belonging to one person, the age fits right, and she has been suspected to be in London, just surprised it took police so long to locate her, given how highly visible she was at one point, and how well-surveilled the UK (and especially London) is. I was led to think by Spooks their network could face-ID someone in hours haha!

The police claimed they seized cryptocurrency, however, the article does not say how and what they seized. I am skeptical. They might not have seized anything and if they seized something, what kind of cryptocoins? It might be a wallet full of Binance smartchain tokens hehehe.

Even better if they got all the master "wallets" of Onecoin;)

[zanezane]

With the nature of cryptocurrency and how annonymous it is , you would think thta people who would use it for no good would never get found and the criminals themselves would prove to be smarter than the usla ones that use fiat, but time and time again this is proven wrong with people getting busted for laundaring millions of dollars, it is a good thing to see the bad ones get caught but it also makes you question how anonymous using crypto is if it is at all.

It's only anonymous on the ledger until you follow it's trail. Cryptocurrency except for privacy coins are pseudonymous meaning that their offered anonymity has limits and can still be tracked. Also, the people that are sloppy are the ones that get caught by the authority, like the mythological Hydra, these money laundering operation only gets strong the more you cut off it's head.

[hd49728]

If you were in crypto market for years and long enough, you would realize that fud and news about crypto crackdown, arrest, lawsuits always appear when Bitcoin is in correction?

They, whales, governments prepare all things and work together to release news and fud the market during bearish period.

Don't worry, they all will be go away. You will go through the eventful period after a few more months.

[arabspaceship123]

Well if she got the bitcoin via fraud then she deserves to rot in jail. That’s a large bitcoin stash which clearly has been gotten via illegal means. I hope that somehow some of the victims can be reimbursed.

In their media the British police didn't mention which cryptocurrencies they seized so we don't know if was bitcoin.

If she was devious enough to accrue that much, I have a feeling she may be hiding a lot more cryptocurrency in other locations. For all the talk about people using Bitcoin to commit crimes, when you see cases like this you cannot help but wonder what sort of resources that government agencies are now working with in order to trace the money - after all it can get funneled very transparently into rather few wallets at the point of consolidation. I wonder if they hacked the wallets (or the devices they were on) first before arresting her, or she ended up giving away the wallet access in some other way. It would also be interesting to know at what point she bought into Bitcoin because the original owners could ironically be sitting on a huge windfall of cash if it was purchased before the most recent price hikes, even if they weren't cashing out at the all time high.

She had a devious streak that's why she's become rich by deception but she's ended up in jail. I'd like them to release the details of her case.  There's a strong prospect she's a front working for bigger criminals that's why she got caught if she's the face that other criminals know while the real masterminds hide in the shadows.

This gives cryptocurrency a bad reputation because the word crime becomes associated with it. It's not helping when positive sides to cryptocurrencies aren't seen by new interested audiences when it's being used by criminals and mentioned in newspapers.

Perhaps there’s more accomplices in this fraud since that’s a lot of money and effort to be able to accrue such an enormous amount. It’s good that she was nabbed even before she’s able to do more damage in the ecosystem. Even if she was able to hide millions somewhere, if the prison sentence is extremely lengthy, it wouldn’t matter since she can never use it.

British police should search for her accomplices to stop this fraud and ponzi from expanding even further. It’s highly improbable that it’s just a one-man crew with that huge amount.

There's no possibility she's working alone. It's possible they've arrested her accomplices but haven't told the media.

That's a huge amount that has been confiscated, I hope those who had been victims will return the money to them because that's their money.  For sure there are more unrevealed amounts because the investigation is ongoing.  But my question is why the British authorities didn't disclose what cryptocurrency it is.

It's a huge amount that's got seized. The 7000 bitcoin stolen from Binance in 2019 is $225 million so do you think it's related to this case ?

Think you're right OP. If it's that amount of crypto belonging to one person, the age fits right, and she has been suspected to be in London, just surprised it took police so long to locate her, given how highly visible she was at one point, and how well-surveilled the UK (and especially London) is. I was led to think by Spooks their network could face-ID someone in hours haha!

It's been reported she's used places in London to hide. Maybe the police arrested Ruscha Ignatowa if she became complacent maybe it isn't even her, we'll have to wait until the police announce it.

[7788bitcoin]

The first name in my head was Ruscha Ignatowa she's a Bulgarian fraudster. She was a founder of the One Coin ponzi but wiki shows her age at 41 not 39. She's been sentenced by US authorities for wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering.

British police didn't name the woman they'd arrested or name the cryptocurrencies they seized but if it's her it's certain she'll get extradited to the US where she'll face up to 90 years jail for the ponzi.

That would be awesome if everyone on that One Coin Ponzi are caught, they made a mockery and there were many that supported them and there were many scams but the One Coin one was really huge and they disappeared for years and glad to hear that scammers are going behind bars even if it takes a few years, you cannot run and avoid the authorities especially when the amount stolen is huge.

[Bitstar_coin]

It is news like this that make crypto to appear bad before the public, even money laundry is not only carried out in crypto, I can't believe a woman is this vicious and has no scrupuls, base on the description made by the op I would say this lady has quite a rich resume in this regard, because of that the authorities will treat this case very seriously, 90 years is a lifetime for someone to be locked away for, it means she will most likely spend the rest of her live in jail.

[randegibran]

this is indeed a very extraordinary.thing that was.done by this woman, but this crime really cannot.be allowed to happen to anyone and it is not appropriate to be.imitated or imitated.by many groups or other Ponzi.systems, because of these.crimes like it should.get a life imprisonment.because crimes.such as selling human organs.or selling illegal.drugs that are strictly.prohibited by any country

[arabspaceship123]

Even if it's her some owners won't claim their share of stolen cryptocurrency because they don't want to surrender anonymity. Most One Coin victims who can't prove ownership of funds could find happiness if she's put behind bars so that's the only route victims can be happy about.

I'm sure the police's going to hold auctions selling what they seized. There's chances more is going to be seized. It's $408 million but they're still questioning her and still looking in to the crime.

That would be awesome if everyone on that One Coin Ponzi are caught, they made a mockery and there were many that supported them and there were many scams but the One Coin one was really huge and they disappeared for years and glad to hear that scammers are going behind bars even if it takes a few years, you cannot run and avoid the authorities especially when the amount stolen is huge.

[Stedsm]

3 cheers to the British Police for such an achievement, and a slap on their faces who say that crypto is only used for money laundering and criminals run away with the money and can't be found out. This shows that crypto is highly capable in dealing with these criminals because it's all done electronically and online, so there are many traces left of a person to find him out (except Satoshi, as he is a next-level genius). This is not the case with fiat and if it's cash, no wonder the criminal will never be caught in most cases.

[dkbit98]

Ruja Ignatova is now 41 years old and with all her diplomatic passports I doubt they really arrested her, and she is probably hiding somewhere in arab world under the protection of some rich prince.
They confiscated a lot of money but UK government legally steals much more money from their everyday tax extortion all the time, like all the parasites are doing.

[bryant.coleman]

Ruja Ignatova is now 41 years old and with all her diplomatic passports I doubt they really arrested her, and she is probably hiding somewhere in arab world under the protection of some rich prince.
They confiscated a lot of money but UK government legally steals much more money from their everyday tax extortion all the time, like all the parasites are doing.

Ruja Ignatova is the tip of the iceberg. Do you really believe that she did the OneCoin scam alone? I don't even think that she was the mastermind. These things will be clarified only of she is caught and interrogated. But it looks as if some very powerful people are behind the OneCoin scam, and they are either hiding her or they have eliminated her without a trace. Looking at her biodata, I can't believe that she can organize all this. The mastermind is someone else. Ignatova is just a mask to hide the real culprit. The same can be said about many of the scandals involving cryptocurrency.

[arabspaceship123]

It's what I'm thinking Ruja Ignatova's role in One Coin was just a mask she wasn't the mastermind. If she's caught she's lost a bargaining position but if she's hiding out there she should've made a deal with the police years ago giving names for immunity. The police website hasn't been updated with the name of the woman they've arrested.

Ruja Ignatova is the tip of the iceberg. Do you really believe that she did the OneCoin scam alone? I don't even think that she was the mastermind. These things will be clarified only of she is caught and interrogated. But it looks as if some very powerful people are behind the OneCoin scam, and they are either hiding her or they have eliminated her without a trace. Looking at her biodata, I can't believe that she can organize all this. The mastermind is someone else. Ignatova is just a mask to hide the real culprit. The same can be said about many of the scandals involving cryptocurrency.

[qwertyup23]

I agree that those who commit crimes such as money laundering should be arrested and given a punishment commensurate with their actions. I also want people on this forum to do good, not do something criminal that can harm other people.

Unfortunately, this is one of those instances where crimes that are related to cryptocurrencies contribute to its overall stigma, in which it influences the decision in attracting new investors.

This woman committed money laundering and other similar crimes as well. She deserves to be put behind bars since she committed acts which are against the laws of the State. No matter what happens, even if cryptocurrencies do have anonymity, if you use it for any other purpose that is contrary to law, you bear all the necessary consequences attached to it.