New evidence suggests that a Bulgarian mob boss may have murdered missing crypto queen Ruja Ignatova. Was she silenced to protect a $4.5 billion scam?
The BBC investigation team has released fresh evidence regarding the purported homicide of the crypto fraudster, who had ties to organized crime.
In 2014, the notorious Bulgarian woman Ignatova participated in the promotion of a bogus cryptocurrency called “OneCoin.” She persuaded millions of users to invest in the cryptocurrency by guaranteeing returns in the multifold range. Ignatova subsequently escaped with $4.5 billion worth of investor funds.
As a result of the worldwide attention brought about by the magnitude of the fraud, several key individuals associated with the Ponzi scheme were apprehended. William Morro, an accomplice in the OneCoin case who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in the notorious case, was the most recent to be arrested.
The report noted that for the past year, BBC World Service’s Eye Investigations and Panorama have investigated her whereabouts.
Assuming the role of a suspect murderer, Ignatova engaged the services of Taki, a Bulgarian drug magnate, and ‘bodyguard’ Hristoforos Nikos Amanatidis, to protect her while she evaded capture. Taki, an additional mafioso associated with armed robberies and homicide, was remunerated €100,000 per month in exchange for ensuring the safety of Ignatova.
“When we speak of Taki, we are referring to the leader of the Bulgarian mafia. “He is mighty,” Ivan Hristanov, a former deputy minister of Bulgaria, told the BBC.
“Taki is the ghost. You’ll never see him. You only hear about him. He’s talking to you through other people. If you don’t listen, you just disappear from earth. The only person who can protect her [Ignatova] from all those investigations, including from foreign agencies – it was Taki.”
Taki reportedly resides in one of Ignatova’s luxurious penthouses in Dubai, where millions of dollars were deposited into her bank account due to the fraud.
Is ‘Missing Crypto Queen Alive or Dead?
In 2022, Bulgarian investigative journalist Dimitar Stoyanov was the first to report on Ignatova’s assassination of the Bird.bg news outlet.
At the time, Stoyanov and his companions obtained a police document discovered in the residence of a fatal Bulgarian officer.
According to reports, Taki gave the orders for Ignatova’s murder in 2018, according to the police document they discovered after overhearing Taki’s brother-in-law sobbing. Later, her dismembered remains were discarded off a yacht in the Ionian Sea, approximately west of the coast of Greece.
Subsequently, Bulgarian authorities validated the document’s authenticity and supported the theory, Stoyanov told the BBC.
However, previous reports identified Hristo Hristov as the perpetrator of the homicide. Later, in the Netherlands, he was detained on unrelated narcotic smuggling charges.
