OneCoin is nominally a crypto company. It has attracted numerous investors from around the globe by promising high return on investment. However, the blockchain network of OneCoin is fictitious.
The founder of OneCoin is Ruja Ignatova from Bulgaria, who also has the German citizenship. OneCoin is banned in Germany and the raid that was performed this weekend was requested by Germany.
The operation was conducted by the Bulgarian prosecutors, agents of national security and the organized crime unit. The authorities confiscated evidence and around 50 people were brought in for interrogation, although no one was arrested.
The company remains operations because it is registered in the United Arab Emirates and is operating on the international level.
The Bulgarian prosecutor’s office issued a statement last week saying: “Companies related to OneCoin Ltd. are currently being investigated in England, Italy, Ireland, the United States, Ukraine, Canada, Latvia, Estonia and many other countries.”
Ruja Ignatova was arrested in July last year in India, along with other 30 people. They were charged with conducting a fraud including thousands of investors. The Indian police noticed that OneCoin kept money on 35 different bank accounts, with the most of the money being transferred to an unknown location immediately after the arrest.
In July, 2015, the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) in Belgium issued a statement that OneCoin was not regulated in the country, as a response to the statement given by the politician Laurent Louis. On his Facebook page, Louis said that OneCoin was not a problem for the FSMA and that it was not illegal or a fraud. The politician started promoting OneCoin in 2016 and it is estimated he earned between 100,000 and 200,000 euros by committing frauds. He was also arrested and charged with organizing a pyramidal scam, embezzlement, money laundering and other felonies.
The authorities of Austria, Italy and Belize also undertook measures against OneCoin. The authorities in Finland are investigating the company since 2015.
