What’s it called?
The Missing Cryptoqueen
What’s it about?
The subject is Dr Ruja Ignatova, a Bulgarian businesswoman who appeared out of nowhere in her mid-30s to front a company called OneCoin, a crypto-currency along the lines of Bitcoin which offered the prospect of massive rewards to investors who bought “packages” costing up to £5000. Sound too good to be true? Despite her lavish launches and theatrical presentations – think Steve Jobs unveiling a new iPhone but with ten times the bling – the whole thing was exactly that: too good to be true, a sham described by one British newspaper as “one of the biggest scams in history”. Even more intriguing, Ignatova went missing in 2017 just as US authorities were closing in on her and the company. She’s still at large, leaving behind thousands of victims such as Scot Jen McAdam, who features in several episodes of the podcast.
Who’s in it?
A BBC production, it’s fronted by investigative journalist Jamie Bartlett, a man well used to navigating the darker recesses of the internet. He’s aided and abetted by producer and co-writer Georgia Catt.
What’s so good about it?
Simply the story, which is jaw-dropping.
Best bits …
When Barrett tries out his explanation of how crypto-currencies work over the phone to his mum. A complicated process involving things called “blockchains”, she’s completely baffled and tells him she doesn’t understand a word of it. You can see, though, how the investors were fooled.
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