Ruza Ignatova came on stage in a red-black gown. Lights all around. 'Girl On Fire' by Alicia Keys played. Ignatova was surrounded by a cheering crowd at London's Wembley Arena. He thanked everyone.

That was in June 2016. At that time, there was a lot of hype around cryptocurrency, known as digital money. Many people had great interest in investing in this sector. Ruza then introduced herself as 'Cryptoqueen'. Her claim was that his company OneCoin is a rival to Bitcoin. Said, within two years people will forget Bitcoin. Investors greeted her with claps and whistles.

Exactly 16 months later, Ruza boarded a plane to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. And then he became 'No'. There is still no trace of him.

Authorities say OneCoin has stolen more than $4 billion in fraud. Ruza was able to attract investors from the United States as well as around the world to invest money in her company. According to federal prosecutors, OneCoin is one of the largest international financial frauds ever committed.

Ruza knew from the beginning that it was a fraud

Ruza's photo has been on the FBI's website since she escaped in October 2017. There are no less reports about him in major media worldwide. Her name is in the list of top criminals in Europe as well.

Under the FBI poster of Ruza, it is written that Ruza may be walking under armed guard or with accomplices. She may have changed his appearance by undergoing plastic surgery.

According to court documents, Ruza and OneCoin co-founder Carl Sebastian Greenwood knew from the start that their ambitious venture was a Ponzi scheme, which was fraudulent. In this, money collected from new investors is returned to old investors.

IRS Special Agent John R. Tafur said in a statement that cryptocurrency OneCoin was created to defraud investors.

Federal officials said in a court report that while Greenwood and Ruza were working on OneCoin, they referred to it as a "trashy coin" in e-mail communications. In an e-mail sent to Ruza's brother, Konstantin Ignatov, Greenwood called the investors "stupid" and "crazy," the documents show. According to the lawyers, Konstantin himself is part of the scam. He is now managing OneCoin in his sister's absence.

In a 2014 e-mail to Greenwood, Ruza outlined an exit strategy if the company failed. There she said, 'We should continue to raise money and put the responsibility on others.'

According to the FBI, the list of criminals is based on the long list and severity of crimes. The FBI declined to provide CNN with additional information outside of court documents on Rooza. In New York, FBI spokesman Daniel Crifo said, 'The investigation is ongoing. We cannot comment beyond what has already been made public.'

Ruza is now one of the FBI's top 10 most wanted criminals and the only woman. After the FBI launched the list in 1950, there were 529 fugitives on the list. Among them, the number of women including Ruja is only 11.

Damian Williams, a top lawyer in New York and US attorney, said Ruza and her associates convinced people that their OneCoin would end Bitcoin in the future. In reality OneCoin was worthless…. (Their) lying had only one aim. And that is to invest the hard earned money of the people of the world here every day.

Desire to be rich from childhood

Ruza, now 42 years old, is a German citizen. Although she was born in Bulgaria. Her parents live there. Father is an engineer and mother is a teacher. In his book 'The Missing Cryptoqueen', author Jamie Barlett details Rooza's rise from humble beginnings to star in the entrepreneurial world.

Barlett writes that Ruza's family moved to Germany when he was a teenager. She was a brilliant student. In her spare time she used to study and play chess. According to classmates, Ruza was smart, ambitious and quiet.

Ruza received a scholarship to a university in Konstanz, Germany. She met a law student there. Later married with him. But she never wanted children. Because, she was afraid that the child might be a hindrance in her way of acquiring wealth. She used to tell everyone that he wanted to be a millionaire by the age of 30. Barlett writes, 'she (Ruza) was desperate to get rich. Even to know how to earn money, she used to read books.'

After studying European law at Oxford University, Ruza joined the international management consulting firm McKinsey & Company in Sofia as a consultant. She was very loyal to the customers there. She was fluent in Russian, German, English and Bulgarian. Because of this she could easily mingle with the clients.

How to present oneself in front of everyone was important to Ruza. She often attended events wearing evening gowns, bright red lipstick and diamond earrings. Barlett wrote, she used to show glamor and success in everything.

Investors are promised 5 to 10 times profit

In 2014, Ignatova and her co-founder Greenwood Europe, New York, began to spread OneCoin to global investors. According to the FBI's complaint, they held online webinar conferences. There they would ask potential investors to deposit funds into an account to purchase OneCoin packages.

Federal prosecutors said OneCoin operated as a multi-level marketing (MLM) network. Investors used to get commissions for bringing other investors into the cryptocurrency package. For this, they promised investors 5 to 10 times their profits, according to court documents.

As a result, cryptocurrency buying frenzy began among investors. More than $4 billion was invested in OneCoin between the last three months of 2014 and the last three months of 2016 alone, federal prosecutors said. Of this, the investment of 50 million dollars came from US investors alone.

Williams, a top federal lawyer in Manhattan, said Ruza perfectly exploited the early popularity of cryptocurrencies.

Federal prosecutors say OneCoin is not like other cryptocurrencies. According to court documents, OneCoin was created through a piece of software. It didn't have a powerful server.

In an August 2014 e-mail to Greenwood, Ruza wrote, "We're not really doing anything of value, telling people shit," federal prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said OneCoin's value was not based on market supply and demand like other cryptocurrencies. OneCoin sets its own value.

Then it all fell apart

OneCoin began unmasking in 2016, court documents say. At that time, investors had to sell OneCoins to withdraw their original investment. Then it spread online that the business was actually a scam. The media started raising questions about it. International and US central investigators began investigating the matter.

What ultimately happened to Ruza's marital relationship is not clear. But the FBI says Ruza found out while at her American boyfriend's house that the OneCoin investigation had begun. And her lover is cooperating with the investigators by providing information related to the organization's activities.

In October 2017, the US Department of Justice indicted Rouja on charges of fraud, conspiracy to defraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. She faces a maximum jail term of 20 years if convicted on each charge. She was earlier accused of conspiracy to defraud. She was then sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison. A federal court in New York issued an arrest warrant against her.

Ruza left Sofia, Bulgaria on a commercial flight to Athens, Greece on Oct. 25, 2017, less than two weeks after the verdict, court documents say. Since then she has been 'missing'. The responsibility of the failed company falls on the business partners.

According to the FBI, Rouja traveled from Athens to Eastern Europe via the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Russia on a German passport. She might even be back in Bulgaria. A reward of 100,000 dollars has been announced if she can be found.

Michael Driscoll, assistant director-in-charge of the FBI in New York, told reporters: 'She took a lot of cash. Money can buy many friends. I think she is taking advantage of this money.'

But Greenwood, Ruza's business partner, is not so lucky. In July 2018, she was arrested in Koh Samui, Thailand and taken to the United States. In December of that year, she was convicted of forgery, conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. She was sent to prison in April the following year. She faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the three charges.

In March 2019, Ruza's brother Konstantin Ignatov was arrested. He was arrested while boarding a flight back to Bulgaria after a business trip to the US. Constantine was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and forgery.

Already the OneCoin institution has been shut down. The website is also down. More than five years after landing in Greece, the whereabouts of 'cryptoqueen' Ruza remain a mystery.