London-based law firm Mishcon de Reya is preparing a class action lawsuit against the fugitive founder of the largest cryptocurrency pyramid, Onecoin, Ruja Ignatova.

Lawyers for Mishcon, which serves high-profile clients including Princess Diana, are planning to appeal to the UK High Court. Mishcon partner Rhymal Persad said that the company aims to at least partially return the funds lost by investors in the Onecoin cryptocurrency scheme. The company will defend plaintiffs’ interests under the terms that they are not required to pay attorneys’ fees if the case is not won.

The Onecoin crypto pyramid was launched in 2014 by the so-called “Crypto Queen” Ruja Ignatova and her business partner Karl Sebastian Greenwood. Between 2014 and 2016, the scheme’s operators managed to convince at least 3.5 million people around the world to invest more than $4 billion in the project. Onecoin was touted as the “Bitcoin killer” and became the largest fraudulent scheme in the history of cryptocurrency.

Ignatova’s accomplice, Greenwood, was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison. Ignatova herself was seen in public six years ago and is now on the EU’s most wanted list. The crypto queen disappeared after boarding a flight to Athens on October 25, 2017, in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, where Onecoin had its offices. In February, information appeared in the media that Ignatova was killed in Greece on the order of a certain drug lord.

Other associates of Ruzha Ignatova included her brother Konstantin Ignatov, who was arrested in 2019. He admitted guilt and agreed to cooperate with US authorities.