As the FBI adds Ruja Ignatova to its most wanted list, new findings suggest she amassed billions in Bitcoin.
We have been able to independently verify some - but not all - of the information in the Dubai files.
Dr Levy received thousands of documents, mostly in Arabic, from a whistleblower who he said thought it was wrong that people were being "unjustly enriched" in Dubai.Dr Ruja on the stage at a 2015 OneCoin event in Dubai, where the crypto-firm also had an officeThe most tantalising claim made in Dr Levy's legal case is that a massive Bitcoin deal was struck with an Emirati royal, Sheikh Saoud bin Faisal Al Qassimi, the son of a wealthy business tycoon.
Prior to the alleged deal, Dubai's Mashreq Bank had begun closing Dr Ruja's accounts amid money-laundering concerns, so the cheques were unable to be cashed. A recently launched cryptocurrency also lists the sheikh as its chairman. The Dubai files appear to show a once close relationship between the Al Qassimi family and Dr Ruja.Sheikh Saoud Al Qassimi at an ICAFE event in Dubai, alongside its co-founder Shariar Rahimi.
It is not known who Dr Ruja intended to meet or even if a meeting took place, but the files hint at one possible explanation. The organisation appears to be connected to the United Nations, but a spokesman for the UN Secretary-General could not find any records of it being affiliated through normal routes.
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