After nearly three years of pursuing the OneCoin fraud Ponzi case, the London City police announced that they had dropped an investigation into the swindling of millions of pounds from UK investors by OneCoin.
Police drop inquiry into $ 4bn OneCoin swindle
According to Kieron Vaughan, General Department of Economic Crime, London police closed their investigation for the following reasons:
- OneCoin and its crooks did not work from within the UK.
- The police were unable to identify the evidence the victim could bring against foreign OneCoin defendants in the UK court.
- The victims could not prove that UK fraudsters related to OneCoin have committed criminal offenses.
- It is not based in the United Kingdom to compensate the victims.
Source: The City of London Police
In late 2016, the City of London began investigating OneCoin – a few months before the Ponzi side of the business collapsed in early 2017. This was also the time when it events were being held regularly in the UK. Therefore, it is easy to arrest unregistered securities promoters.
However, when an intensive investigation of OneCoin, London police began to slow down. Not because OneCoin is not a Ponzi project, but because it is easier for the United States to solve it.
Vaughan said:
“We have assisted the US Government in investigating OneCoin and will continue to do so.”
Besides, the London police also admitted that OneCoin promoters in the UK had fled to Dubai and elsewhere before they could act together. The former leading UK promoter, Moyn and Monir Islam left the UK shortly after OneCoin collapsed. Muhammad Zafar, another famous UK OneCoin promoter, is still promoting OneCoin spinoff scams in the UK.
It seems the UK government, especially the London Police, has utterly failed to protect the community from one of OneCoin’s largest MLM Ponzi schemes of all time.
It is especially sad that the ongoing investigation in the US has prevented OneCoin’s scam at $ 4 billion. Meanwhile, the message to the victims of scams below $ 4 billion is clear. Clearly: filing a complaint with the British authorities is a waste of time and effort.
Cryptoqueen disappears, leaving havoc in her wake
According to US judicial documents, the Ponzi project made a profit of $ 2.2 billion from 2014 to 2016. The victims included 60% of investors in China, 18% in Europe, and 15% in Australia.
British journalist Jamie Bartlett has been investigating Ruja Ignatova these years. Bartlett revealed the amount of OneCoin investment in Greece in the first half of 2016 increased to 211,970 euros.
The leaked data that British journalist Jamie Bartlett sent to Kathimerini, show the amount of money that was invested in OneCoin from Greece during the first six months of 2016
Meanwhile, on October 25, 2017, Ruja Ignatova, OneCoin’s creator, who attracted thousands of investors with the promise of faster and higher returns than Bitcoin, disappeared. She took a Ryanair flight from Sofia to Athens and had been missing ever since. The FBI is still looking for the woman to introduce herself as Cryptoqueen.
Ruja Ignatova, OneCoin’s creator, in 2016 | Source: Rex
According to US authorities, this Ponzi project is a multi-billion dollar pyramid scheme, and Ignatova is wanted in the United States for fraud and money laundering. Her brother, Konstantin Ignatov, signed a defense agreement for similar crimes last month and could be put into a witness protection program. American lawyer and associate Mark Scott were convicted a few weeks ago in New York for laundering $ 400 million from the alleged fraud.
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