A $5m (£4m) reward is being offered in the hunt for the fugitive “Cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova.

Bulgarian-born Ignatova, who has German citizenship, has been on the FBI’s top 10 most wanted list since 2022 for fraud and money laundering.

She is accused of defrauding investors out of $4bn (£3.3bn) by selling a fake cryptocurrency called OneCoin, founded in Sofia in 2014.

The US agency, which has called OneCoin “one of the largest global fraud schemes in history”, previously offered a $100,000 (£82,463) reward for information leading to her capture.

However, that has now been raised to £4m.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s chief prosecutor said on Wednesday that the country will press charges against Ignatova, who disappeared in late 2017.

“She will also be charged in absentia in our country, which will allow the start of a procedure for the confiscation of her illegally acquired property,” he said.

There is speculation Ignatova may have been murdered by figures linked to Bulgaria’s criminal underworld.

Her last known movements were taking a Ryanair flight from Sofia to Athens in October 2017.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Related posts:

US DoJ urges court to investigate Maxwell juror who was ‘victim of sexual abuse’ US abortion debate promises a noisy and divisive road ahead Buffalo shooting ‘carried out by sick, demented individual fuelled by diet of hate’ who is now on suicide watch Boy, 6, who shot teacher used mother’s gun – as police reveal more details of shooting Harry says ‘dangerous lie’ told about his book – and claims Taliban remarks were taken out of context ‘Such a beautiful soul’: Two victims of Texas mall shooting named Prince Harry’s US court case could land him in very hot water with the authorities Rumours of ‘Ebola outbreak’ at Burning Man Festival – here’s why they’re false Las Vegas police arrest man over 1996 shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur Thousands of migrants heading to US ahead of talks over border crisis Drone attack retaliation could lead to ‘uncontrolled escalation’ in Middle East crisis Two children dead after suspected drunk driver crashes into birthday party