In Pursuit with John Walsh Recap for Crypto Queenpin
CASE 1:
Nancy D’Epiro was a widow who was living alone after her kids left home to be on their own. In 2016, she learned about a company called OneCoin that promised people money, aka the ‘other BitCoin.’ Nancy was not familiar with this way of making money, but decided to give it a try. She would go on to invest her money, not knowing that she was about be scammed.
Dr. Ruta Ignatov and her brother Konstantin was the face behind the company and had different packages to help people make money. Nancy and her friends would soon get hooked and she would put $1,900 into OneCoin.
Denis Murdock was another one to invest money into the company and fall for the scam. He saw Igna as a smart woman and thought it would be a huge success.
Nancy would soon encourage her sister to invest in the company. She would invest $12,000 into the company, thinking this would get them more money as they saw the stocks rise.
Denis also saw this happen, but none of them could see how to convert their investments into real money. They could only spend money via OneCoin, which Denis did, soon becoming a spokesperson for the company. He would go on to travel the world to talk about the success of the company.
Before long, others began looking into the company more closely, seeing that it was actually a huge scam….and everyone would lose out on the money.
The FBI would soon get involved and saw things weren’t adding up. They began to take a closer look and saw that there was no blockchain or cryptocurrency….money was just being stolen for the owners’ own gain.
Investors began to call into the FBI and arrest warrants went out for Ruja and two of her employees. She has been on the run ever since.
It is believed that Ruja is using stolen money and connections to stay hidden.
Gilbert Armenta was arrested in 2017 for his role in the scam and agreed to turn against Ruja to help his own case.
Ruja has been on the Top Ten Most Wanted list since 2022, only the 11th woman to make this feat.
Denis went into bankruptcy due to OneCoin.
Nancy’s sister died two years after her husband, the stress burdening her until the bitter end.
Ruja was last seen boarding a flight to Sofia, Bulgaria on October 25th, 2017. She is fluent in English, German and Bulgarian and may have a German passport. Her signature look includes red lipstick and statement earrings. She has dark hair and brown eyes and may have altered her appearance via plastic surgery.
There is a $250,000 reward for her capture.
FIFTEEN SECONDS OF SHAME:
Jose Cardoza Martinez is an LAPD Most Wanted Fugitive for the alleged sexual abuse of a child. He is considered armed and very dangerous.
HOT LIST:
Arnoldo Jiminez is wanted for the brutal murder of his wife Estrella, which took place hours after their wedding.
Estrella’s sister Christina called the police to do a welfare check on Estrella on May 13th, 2012. When they arrived, other family members were also there, worried about what could have happened to her. Further investigation showed that she had been brutally murdered in her bathtub.
Arnoldo was nowhere to be found. They had been together for a few years prior and shared a two-year-old son. The couple married only hours before her brutal murder.
Video surveillance showed the couple at a nightclub the night of the wedding. They initially seemed happy, but soon ended up in a fight that turned violent. She drove off with him following her. It was the last time she was seen alive.
More evidence showed no signs of a struggle and very little blood, showing she was killed elsewhere. Before long, it was discovered that she was killed in Arnoldo’s car. He has been on the run ever since.
He is on the FBI’s Ten Most wanted list and there is a $250,000 reward for his arrest.
Arnoldo is six feet tall, 225 lbs and had close cropped black hair at the time of his disappearance. He could be in Mexico and is considered to be armed and dangerous.
MISSING CHILD:
On January 10th, 2022, a teenage boy was found unresponsive on an abandoned bus in Houston, Texas. He died and was never identified. John Houston Doe was a five foot one Hispanic male and between the ages of thirteen and nineteen. He also had a scar on the side of his head.
CASE 2:
In 2019, Hazelton, PA police received a call about the sexual assault of a girl named Sarah* (not her real name). Freddy Calle was her mom’s boyfriend and had a history of sexually abusing children, despite the facade of being a family man.
It was soon discovered that he sexually abused a girl named Crystal and served a 1 2-month prison sentence before being released. There were also other victims, one of whom is now deceased.
Laurie, who is Crystal’s mom recalls meeting Freddy and how she brought him into their lives, not knowing what a monster he was…and feeling horribly about what happened. Crystal testified against him, describing what happened in disturbing detail. This sent him to prison for a year, leaving the family feeling betrayed. They felt even worse when there were more victims discovered.
Crystal also shared her own disturbing story
After Sarah came forward, Freddy disappeared and became one of PA’s Most Wanted. The US Marshals are now after him.
It is believed he could be in Ecuador and being helped by family and friends in both Ecuador and the USA.
Freddy is five foot seven, 175 lbs and was 53 in 2019, when he disappeared. He has a mole on his face, brown eyes and dark hair.
FIFTEEN SECONDS OF SHAME 2:
Pierre Rizzo is wanted on murder charges out of Bakersfield, California. He is five foot eight and weighs 200 lbs. His car was abandoned in Southern California.
MISSING CHILD 2:
On January 23rd, 1999, Teekah Lewis went missing at the age of two from a bowling alley in Tacoma, Washington. She would now be in her mid-twenties.
