Europe’s most wanted WOMEN: From Bulgarian ‘Crypto Queen’, to Romanian don behind criminal gang and the Czech businesswoman who tried to hire a €50,000 hitman to kill her husband
- Just 5% of Europe’s most wanted fugitives, according to Europol, are women
- On the run from a range of allegations from hiring assassins to animal trafficking
- Bulgarian ‘Cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova, 42, is also on the FBI most wanted list
- One of Europol’s most wanted women was tracked down in Ecuador in October
They make up just five per cent of Europe’s most wanted fugitives but they are on the run from a whole host of allegations- from hiring assassins to heading up organised crime gangs.
One runaway- accused of defrauding investors with a $4billion cryptocurrency pyramid scheme- even has a hefty bounty on her head for anyone able to give crucial information leading to her arrest.
These are Europe’s most wanted female fugitives, according to a list by Europol, which every September releases dozens of profiles of missing criminals across the EU.
With just one having been tracked down so far – accused sex-trafficker Viviana Andrea Vallejo Gutiérrez, who was found in a remote jungle town in South America in October – five wanted women remain on the run.
Tania Gomez is known online as the glamorous owner of dog rescue charity HundGärin but according to Europol she also engaged in a wide range of more nefarious activities.
The 30-year-old has been wanted by the Swedish authorities since March 2021 for an ongoing investigation into serious drug trafficking and money laundering offences.
Tania Gomez (pictured), 30, is one of Europe’s most wanted female fugitives, according to a list by Europol
Gomez (pictured left and right) is known online as the glamorous owner of dog rescue charity HundGärin but according to Europol she also engaged in a wide range of more nefarious activities
She is also thought to be connected with an organised crime group in Stockholm, for whom she delivered and transported large quantities of narcotics and money.
And despite her social media persona as a caring dog lover who rescues strays and nurses them back to health, she is also accused of being involved in a network of ‘irregular animal ownership and their transport abroad’, according to Europol.
Next Bulgarian ‘Cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova is not only on Europol’s list but is also one of the top ten most wanted by the FBI- who are offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to her arrest.
Dr Ignatova, 42, is accused of using her OneCoin cryptocurrency as a multi-level marketing scam to target investors worldwide between 2014 and 2018.
Investigators believe Ignatova was tipped off in 2017 after a U.S. District Court in New York issued a warrant for her arrest, leading the alleged scammer to travel to Greece and disappear.
Dubbed the ‘Cryptoqueen,’ Ignatova, a lawyer, co-founded OneCoin in 2014 as the ‘Bitcoin killer,’ luring investors to purchase packages of her cryptocurrency.
Bulgarian ‘Cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova (pictured), 42, is accused of using her OneCoin cryptocurrency as a multi-level marketing scam to target investors worldwide between 2014 and 2018
Dr Ignatova is not only on Europol’s list but is also one of the top ten most wanted by the FBI- who are offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to her arrest
Investigators said that a key part of her business model was to push investors into selling additional packages of OneCoin to friends and family, which was essentially a pyramid scheme to pay out those at the top.
‘Ignatova targeted individuals who may not have fully understood the ins and outs of cryptocurrencies but were moved by Ignatova’s impressive resume and the marketing strategies used by OneCoin,’ the FBI said in its statement.
Bulgarian-born Ignatova is only the 11th woman to have been placed on the FBI’s most wanted list in its 72-year history.
She is also wanted in Germany through an Interpol Red Notice, which warns that she may have surgically changed her appearance in order to avoid capture.
Investigators said she was living in luxury before travelling to Sofia, Bulgaria after a warrant was issued for her arrest on October 12, 2017.
Ignatova, a lawyer, co-founded OneCoin in 2014 as the ‘Bitcoin killer,’ luring investors to purchase packages of her cryptocurrency
She was then reported travelling from Sofia to Athens, Greece on October 25 and has not been seen since.
Authorities believe she could be travelling with a fake German passport to the United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, Russia, Germany, Greece or Eastern Europe.
At the height of OneCoin’s popularity, Ignatova took the stage at the UK’s Wembley Arena, where she celebrated her success and touted that her cryptocurrency would overtake Bitcoin.
Eva Zámečníková, 41, (pictured) is wanted in Slovakia after being sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for hiring an assassin to kill her ex-husband
The third missing female fugitive is Czech national Eva Zámečníková, 41, who is wanted in Slovakia after being sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for hiring an assassin to kill her ex-husband.
In January 2014 the florist arranged to pay her friend Martin Adamkovič €50,000 to kill her husband- a soldier whom she had been married to for only two months- supposedly with the intention of declaring him missing after two years and acquiring his property.
She allegedly acquired a gun to carry out the murder but it did not work and so she changed her plan and told Mr Adamkovič he would have to strangle her husband with a rope.
But he instead turned her in to the police and helped them stage the murder in order to obtain enough evidence.
Mr Adamkovič later became a crown witness in her murder trial and claimed that Zámečníková was in part motivated by the fact that she no longer wanted to ‘feed her husband’.
Zámečníková denied guilt and claimed Adamkovič wanted revenge on her for refusing to lend him money. She insisted that no evidence corroborated the information about the planned murder and the said reward.
In January 2014 the florist (pictured) arranged to pay her friend Martin Adamkovič €50,000 to kill her husband- a soldier whom she had been married to for only two months
The businesswoman was in pre-trial detention for several months but was released in August 2014 to give birth to her child.
She was found guilty by the Specialised Criminal Court in January 2020 but has since gone on the run and is now one of the most wanted criminals in the EU.
Meanwhile Hungarian Anamaria Radu-Stoica is wanted in her home country after being sentenced to ten years in prison.
The 34-year-old, along with two others, founded an organised crime group for the purpose of sexually exploiting women, as well as facilitating prostitution, sometimes with underage girls.
She has been on the run since August 2012.
Hungarian Anamaria Radu-Stoica (pictured left and right) is wanted in her home country after being sentenced to ten years in prison
Finally, Hungarian Andrea Dudla- also known as Eszter Kathona- has been on the run since 2012 after being sentenced to more than 15 years in jail for her involvement in dozens of economic crimes.
In the 2000s Dudla and two associates pretended to be real companies, creating fake invoices and real-looking balance sheets, in order to borrow hundreds of millions of Forints from banks.
They also sold 4,400 tons of corn for 250million Forints (£610,000) but never handed any corn over.
It was believed at one stage that the 43-year-old could be hiding in Thailand, where one of her criminal partners was captured.
Hungarian Andrea Dudla (pictured) has been on the run since 2012 after being sentenced to more than 15 years in jail for her involvement in dozens of economic crimes
The only female fugitive from Europol’s 2022 most wanted list to have been captured so far is Viviana Andrea Vallejo Gutiérrez, who was arrested in Malchala, Ecuador on human trafficking, drug dealing and money laundering charges.
Police had been searching for the Columbian citizen, also known as ‘Vivi’, who had fled Spain after being accused of running brothels in which trafficked women were forced to work as prostitutes.
She is alleged to have been part of an organisation that charged women €1,500 to get into Spain, where they then had to pay the money back through prostitution.
Police say the 36-year-old was in charge of monitoring the women, who had to be available 24-hours a day, and also supplied cocaine for clients.
She faces 32 years in prison after being found hiding in Ecuador on October 28.
The only female fugitive from Europol’s 2022 most wanted list to have been captured so far is Viviana Andrea Vallejo Gutiérrez (pictured), who was arrested in Malchala, Ecuador on human trafficking, drug dealing and money laundering charges
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