Prodco’s Tondowski Films and DARE Pictures have joined forces with Fremantle and broadcasters Sky Germany and Channel 4 to unveil the new three-part documentary series crypto Queen (wt), shedding exclusive new light on one of the greatest scams of modern times.
Currently, in production, the series explores the story of how self-styled lawyer and Bulgarian businesswoman Dr. RujaIgnatova dubbed ‘The Queen of Crypto’ scammed investors out of billions of dollars in less than three years through her cryptocurrency brainchild, OneCoin.
At her peak, she presented OneCoin on stage in Wembley stadium, and hosted lavish parties in Dubai and New York, whilst indulging in glitz and glamour at the expense of her investors. At the height of this frenzy in October 2017, she boarded a flight to Athens along with the riches of her clientele and vanished.
Filmed across multiple countries, and with insights from intelligence experts, defrauded investors and former OneCoin employees, Crypto Queen also features exclusive contributions from Dr. Jonathan Levy (an attorney/solicitor who has represented efforts to secure $11 billion in compensation from OneCoin), and Timothy Curry, one of the first to warn about the OneCoin scam.
Crypto Queen was created and produced by Tondowski Films and DARE Pictures in association with Lone Wolf Studios, with Sky Germany and Channel 4 on board as broadcast partners. It is directed by award-winning filmmaker Rudolph Herzog (Heist), working closely with writer and journalist Raid Sabbah(How To Fake A War). Executive producers are AlexTondowski, Ira Tondowski, and Derren Lawford. Stephen Morse and Max Peltzfrom Lone Wolf Studios are co-Executive Producers.
Ira and Alex said: ‘Crypto Queen peels back OneCoin’sshiny façade to unveil the untold corruption, money laundering, death-threats and sheer greed in a huge, growing, and mostly unregulated sector ofinternational finance. With Derren Lawford of DARE Pictures, director Rudolph Herzog and writer Raid Sabbah, we were able to put together a great creative team to bring this fascinating and relevant story to global audiences’.
Lawford added: ‘OneCoin is a truly transnational scandal which straddles the worlds of cryptocurrency and corruption with the charismatic and enigmatic RujaIgnatova at the center of quite possibly the biggest scam in modern times. I’m a huge fan ofTondowski Films and Rudolph Herzog and couldn’t think of better creative partners for DARE’s debut commission’.
Christian Asanger, VP Entertainment, SKY Germany commented: ‘SkyCrime was just launched in April 2021 in Germany to provide our customers with premium true crime content and is meanwhile one of our most popular channel brands on the platform. Sky Originals are a key pillar for that success story. We are excited to add the unprecedented and revealing crime series to our portfolio, produced by Tondowski Films and DarePictures and directed by renowned Rudolph Herzog’.
Polly Scates, Acquisitions Manager, Channel 4, remarked: ‘We were immediately drawn to this ambitious twist on the true-crime genre that follows one of the biggest cons in recent history. The strand True Crime on 4 continues to go from strength to strength and we’re confident this stranger than fiction case will make an exciting addition to the slate’.
Fremantle who co-invested in the series is also handling worldwide sales(outside of the UK and Germany). Angela Neillis, SVP Non-Scripted Content, concluded:‘We have huge ambition in the documentary and factual space, and we are seeing amazing growth of our slate through really unique projects’.
