A woman who was conned in an international cryptocurrency scam has urged other victims to join a class action lawsuit.
Jennifer McAdam, whose story is to be turned into a new Hollywood movie, lost around £9,000 to the OneCoin Ponzi scheme which has defrauded up to £4 billion from people around the world.
She also persuaded family and friends to put in around £220,000, before realising they were not going to get the money back.
Miss McAdam, 53, from Glasgow, has become a campaigner for justice for investors who lost money and last year published her book called Devil’s Coin which details how she fought back against OneCoin boss Ruja Ignatova.
She has instructed top City of London law firm Mishcon de Reya to attempt to recoup money lost by OneCoin investors.
The firm is preparing to issue a claim at the High Court in London and Miss McAdam had called for others who were defrauded to join the legal action.
She said: “The time for seeking justice and recoup what was so cruelly and fraudulently stolen from us has come.
“I and so many international OneCoin victims who have already joined the OneCoin victims claim refuse to be left as helpless victims.
“We have had to endure so much suffering and pain. Now it is our time for justice and we so deserve that.
“I encourage anyone who suffered losses because of the OneCoin fraud to join. This claim offers a way for all victims to finally get some money back and it’s not only for victims living in the UK. It’s very much an action for the whole international OneCoin community.
“The claim is still open to new members at the moment but it won’t be forever so if anyone is a OneCoin victim and is interested please sign up as soon as you can at the website onecoinvictims.com.”
Those who register for the lawsuit will not be asked to pay anything to sign up because legal costs are being paid for by a litigation funder.
In a statement, Mishcon de Reya said: “We have been instructed to pursue recovery actions on behalf of victims of the OneCoin fraud.
“The harm suffered has far-reaching consequences for the victims and their families.
“We are proud to fight for them in holding the perpetrators of this fraud to account.”
The group action claim will allege that OneCoin was a fraudulent scheme and that many investors were deceived into parting with their money.
Miss McAdam first invested in the cryptocurrency in 2016 after seeing a presentation online and encouraged her friends and relatives to do the same.
She was later contacted by a cryptocurrency expert online who told her the scheme was a scam.
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After receiving evasive replies when she raised her concerns with OneCoin, she became convinced she had been conned. Around 70,000 people in the UK are thought to have invested in Bulgaria-based OneCoin after they were promised astronomical returns.
Ignatova, known as the “missing cryptoqueen”, disappeared in 2017 and has been added to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.
The rights to Miss McAdam’s book, which has also been nominated for prestigious crime writing award, CWS ALCS Gold Dagger Award, has been snapped up by film studio MGM and Oscar-winner Kate Winslet has been tipped to play her.
Miss Adams said: “It feels like a high achievement for both myself and my Scottish family to be nominated. It’s in our heritage – our DNA – to not give up and speak out for what is right, fair and just.
“The book being shortlisted is an absolute honour and a huge achievement for the voiceless OneCoin victims worldwide. It is an immense relief that finally the class action lawsuit is progressing and representing victims is an outstanding and prestigious UK law firm Mishcon De Reya. We OneCoin victims are truly in the best legal hands. We are ready to recoup what was so cruelly and heinously stolen from us.”
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