OneCoin victims obtain certificate of default as to “crypto queen”
Less than a fortnight after the victims of fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme OneCoin pushed for a certificate of default against “crypto queen” Ruja Ignatova, the Court has granted their request.
On May 17, 2021, the New York Southern District Court issued certificates of default against OneCoin Ltd, Gilbert Armenta, and Ruja Ignatova. The reason for the entries is the failure of the defendants to respond to the complaint against them.
Let’s note that the clerk’s certificates of default are typically followed by default judgments, where the particular penalties against the defendants are specified. It is highly likely that the next step of OneCoin’s victims is to seek such default judgments.
This is a class action on behalf of a class of investors consisting of all individuals and entities who transferred to the OneCoin defendants, directly or indirectly, any fiat currency or cryptocurrency to invest in a OneCoin trader/membership package and/or a purported digital cryptocurrency called “OneCoin” and who suffered financial injury as a result thereof. The financial harm caused by the fraudulent programs exceeds $4 billion.
Ruja, known by many as the “CryptoQueen,” co-founded OneCoin in April 2014. She was integral to all aspects of the Company’s operations, including its structure, marketing, overall business strategies, and its offerings in the United States of the OneCoin Investment Programs.
To promote OneCoin, Ruja Ignatova organized glamorous parties, funded international company events in Dubai, Macao, Singapore, and the UK; and, according to some sources, even invited Tom Jones to perform at her birthday party in London.
In the year following the creation of OneCoin and its OneCoin “currency”, Ruja and her peers purchased millions of dollars’ worth of real estate across the world.
Despite being a central figure to all aspects of OneCoin and the OneCoin Investment Programs, Ruja — since in or about October 2017 — has made no appearances at any public OneCoin events and has made no public statement regarding her whereabouts. Her disappearance was purposefully aimed at avoiding being apprehended by law enforcement officials and bearing the burden of her wrongful acts; as she had in the past maintained a persistent online presence, using video portals such as YouTube, social media websites, and OneCoin’s own website.
Ruja is presently a wanted fugitive in the United States for her crimes involving OC and the OC Investment Programs.