And according to Dubai records, Schneider’s most recent UAE ID data shows his residency was authorized through July 2023, which would have granted him lawful entry into Dubai at the time he escaped French custody.
An FBI spokesperson told OCCRP that Schneider “remains a fugitive.” But journalists discovered new clues linking Schneider to Indonesia, which does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S.
Schneider appeared as director of an Indonesia-registered company called White Orchid Management, described in registration documents as being set up in March 2020 to buy, sell, rent, and operate real estate.
On September 8, 2023 –– months after Schneider disappeared –– the shares of the company were transferred to his wife and son, and he left his position as director.
Schneider’s U.S. attorney, Joel M. Cohen of White & Case in New York, declined to comment, “because the matter is pending in court.”
Ignatova too has disappeared without trace. While OCCRP’s Bulgarian media partner, Bird, reported in February 2023 that Ignatova was likely murdered, her death has never been confirmed. In 2022, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation declared Ignatova, who was born in Bulgaria and became a German citizen, one of its most wanted fugitives.
An FBI spokesperson said in an email that the agency “is aware of media reports regarding Ruja Ignatova’s death, however, until there is documented evidence that she is dead, the FBI considers Ignatova as alive, and she remains on the FBI Top 10 Most Wanted List.”
Meanwhile, Ignatova’s OneCoin co-founder, Karl Sebastian Greenwood, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering. In September 2023 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and ordered to forfeit $300 million.
As first revealed by the BBC’s The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast, Greenwood also held Dubai property, purchased before OneCoin launched. Records show that his villa was valued at $5.4 million when it was put on the market in 2022 as part of an unrelated lawsuit.
Victims’ Lawsuit
When OneCoin appeared in 2014, Greenwood and Ignatova hyped it as a cryptocurrency to rival the wildly-successful Bitcoin. But it was all a lie.
“Unlike legitimate cryptocurrencies, OneCoin had no actual value and was conceived of by Greenwood and Ignatova as a fraud from day one,” the New York Southern District U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement announcing Greenwood’s sentencing.