Hiding Out

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Ruja Ignatova called himself the crypto Queen. She told people That she had invented crypto money to rivals to Bitcoin, and persuaded them to invest billions. Then, two years ago, she Disappeared . Jamie Bartlett spent months in order to investigate, how you did it, and try to figure out where she's hiding.

at the beginning of June 2016, a 36-year-old business woman by the name of Dr. Ruja Ignatova went On Stage at Wembley Arena in front of thousands of enthusiastic fans. She was dressed, as usual, in an expensive ball gown, wear long earrings and bright red lipstick.

she told the cheering crowd That OneCoin was on course to make The World 's largest crypto-money "for All payments, anywhere".

Dr. Ruja speaks at the Wembley Arena Bitcoin is The First crypto was money and had been given the largest and best - known-the rise in value from a few cents to hundreds of dollars per Coin by mid-2016, is still give rise to enthusiasm among the investors. Crypto money as an idea was just entering the mainstream. A lot of people were looking to get involved in this strange, new way.

OneCoin Dr. Ruja told the Wembley audience, was the "Bitcoin Killer". "In two years, nobody is talking about Bitcoin and more!", she cried.

All over The World , the people were already in their savings invested in OneCoin, in the hope That a part of this new revolution. Documents leaked to the BBC show That The British spent nearly €30m on OneCoin in The First six months of 2016, €2m in a single week - and the rate of investment would have a spectacle to Wembley. Between August 2014 and March 2017, More Than €4 billion was invested in dozens of countries. From Pakistan to Brazil, from Hong Kong to Norway, from Canada to Yemen... even Palestine.

But it was not something very important, these investors knew That . To explain

this, I will first briefly explain how a crypto Works money actually. This is notoriously difficult - you can go online and you will find hundreds of various descriptions, Some of them completely incomprehensible to non-specialists. But this is The First principle to understand: money is only valuable because other people think it is valuable. Whether it is the Bank of England Bank notes and coins, shells, gems, or matches - you All have used in the past as money - it only Works when everyone he trusts.

For a long time, people have tried a form of digital money regardless of state-backed currencies. But they have always failed because no-One could trust them. You would always need someone responsible, the manipulate could be The Power supply, and the forgery was too easy.

The reason why so many people are excited about Bitcoin is That it solves this problem. It depends on a special type of database called a blockchain, which is like a giant book - One That Bitcoin owners have independent But identical copies. Each time a Bitcoin is sent from me to Someone Else , a record of the transaction in each book. No One - not the banks, not the governments, or the person who invents, is responsible or can change it. There are Some very clever mathematics behind it, But That means That Bitcoins can't be faked, you can do not be hacked and cannot be double-spent.

(I tested this statement on My Mother , The Family Luddite, and she told me That I would not make it clear enough and should start again. So not to much not to worry, if you follow, either. ) The Key point is That this particular blockchain databases are, what crypto currencies like Bitcoin make it Work . For his fans, this is a revolutionary new form of currency, with the possibility of secondary employment to the banks and the national currencies, and provide banking for anyone with a Mobile Phone . And if you come earlier, there is the chance to make a fortune.

Dr. Ruja was a genius to do All this and sell the idea to the masses.

But there was something wrong. At the beginning of October 2016 - four months after Dr. Ruja London appearance - a blockchain expert by the name of Bjorn Bjercke was from a recruiter, with a strange job offer. A crypto-money start-up from Bulgaria , was looking for a chief technical officer. Bjercke would get an apartment and a car and an attractive annual salary of about £250,000.

"I thought: 'What is going to be my job? What are the things I will do to for this Company ?'" he reminds you.

"And he said:" Well , first of All , you need a blockchain. You Don 't have the blockchain today. '

"I said: 'What? She told me That it is a crypto-money was The Company . '"

The Agent replied That this was correct. It is a crypto-money was firm, and it was already running for a while - But it had not the blockchain. "So we need you to build a blockchain," he continued.

"What is the name of The Company is?" Bjercke asked.

"It is OneCoin. "

- He didn't do The Job .

Jen McAdam's 'tycoon' packageOne spring day a couple of months ago, Jen McAdam received a message from a friend about a unique investment opportunity. Sitting at her computer, clicked a Glaswegian on a link and entered a OneCoin webinar.

Jen McAdam on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire program in the next hour or so, you listened to exactly the people to talk enthusiastically about this exciting new crypto money - how it could transform your wealth. All of them were urge "very up-tempo, full of energy, full of passion," she recalls. "You are so happy That you 'see the re this webinar now", she said. "You're in such an early stage, and it is only going to be, like Bitcoin. It Goes bigger. "

The webinar technicians spoke about Dr. Ruja shiny background: Oxford University, PhD in Konstanz, Germany, with a stint with the prestigious consulting firm McKinsey and Company . A speech by Dr. Ruja had given at a conference, Which was shown by The Economist magazine and what was the decisive factor for McAdam. "That ticked a Box . The Power of The Woman - Well done! I felt proud of you. "

The video of Dr. Ruja at The Economist 's conference was what tipped the balance for Jen McAdam By the time the had finished the webinar, had you decided to invest 1,000 Euro. It was simple: you bought OneCoin Token, And Then generates coins, which went on your account. One Day soon, she told me That she would be able to turn those coins back into euros or pounds. It seemed like Easy Money . Maybe 1000 Euro is not enough? The organizers said it was the larger packages, which were really changed my life. The smallest package costs €140, But you went All the way up to €118,000. A week later, McAdam is a "tycoon" package bought to pay for 5,000€.

a long time Ago you had invested, to invest 10,000 Euro of your own money and persuaded friends and family to 250 000 Euro from you. She saw excited on the OneCoin website, as it increased the value of their coins constantly. Before too long they Passed £100,000 - a-10-fold back. She started planning holidays and shopping trips.

But it was towards the end of the year, Jen McAdam approached by A Stranger on The Internet . He claimed That he was a good Samaritan, someone who had studied OneCoin careful and wanted to talk to the people who had invested. Reluctantly, she agreed to have a conversation on Skype. It turned out to be a shouting match, But it would send McAdam in a New Direction .

The Stranger Timothy Curry, a Bitcoin enthusiast and crypto was in favour of money. He thought OneCoin crypto currencies would give it a bad name, and he said McAdam bluntly That it was a fraud - "the biggest fraud in the [expletive] world." He said he could prove it, too. "Well , then prove it to me!" she replied sharply.

in the next few weeks, Curry sent a stream of information about how cryptocurrencies Work : links, articles, YouTube videos. He was Björn Bjercke, the blockchain developer who said it was not a blockchain.

It took McAdam's three months to go through them All , But the questions were starting to form. They asked the leader of their OneCoin-group, if there is a blockchain. At first it was said it was not something That you need to know, But if you persisted, you finally get to The Truth in an answering machine in April 2017.

"OK, Jen ... you Don 't want to disclose That kind of information, just in case something Goes wrong, where the blockchain is stored. And plus, as an application, it does not have a server behind it. So it is our blockchain technology, a SQL server with a database. "

But by this stage, thanks to Curry and Bjercke, she knew That the default SQL server database was not the basis for a real crypto money. The manager was able to go the database and change it at will.

"thought I," What? ?' And literally my legs just went, and I fell to The Floor ,'" she says.

in Spite of the successful facade, the trouble began. The opening of the long-promised exchange That would allow OneCoin in cash held will be delayed - and the investors were getting worried more and more.

I glance at Daniel .

financial conduct authority (fca), fraud, podcasts, crime, bitcoin, bulgaria

Source of news: bbc.com