They make up just five percent of Europe’s most wanted refugees, but they’re on the run from a whole range of allegations – from hiring assassins to running organized crime gangs.
A runaway accused of defrauding investors with a $4 billion cryptocurrency pyramid scheme has even put a hefty bounty on anyone’s head who can provide vital information leading to her arrest.
These are Europe’s most wanted female fugitives, according to a list by Europol, which publishes dozens of profiles of missing criminals across the EU each September.
With only one 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 organization HundGärin, but she has also been involved in a variety of more nefarious activities, according to Europol.
The 30-year-old has been wanted by the Swedish authorities since March 2021 due to ongoing investigations into serious drug trafficking and money laundering offences.
Tania Gomez (pictured), 30, is one of the most wanted female refugees in Europe, according to a Europol list
Gomez (pictured left and right) is known online as the glamorous owner of dog rescue organization HundGärin, but she has also been involved in a variety of more nefarious activities, according to Europol
She is also believed to be linked to an organized crime group in Stockholm, for which she delivered and transported large quantities of narcotics and money.
And despite her social media role as a caring dog lover who rescues strays and nurses them back to health, she’s also been accused of being involved in a network of “irregular animal keeping and transporting them abroad,” according to Europol.
Bulgarian “crypto queen” Ruja Ignatova is not only on Europol’s list, but is also in the FBI’s ten most wanted list, which is 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 US district court in New York issued an arrest warrant for her, prompting the alleged scammer to travel to Greece and disappear.
Dubbed the “cryptoqueen,” attorney Ignatova co-founded OneCoin in 2014 as a “bitcoin killer” and lured investors into buying packs of her cryptocurrency.
Bulgarian “crypto queen” Ruja Ignatova (pictured), 42, is accused of using her OneCoin cryptocurrency as a multi-stage marketing scam to target investors worldwide between 2014 and 2018
dr In addition to being on Europol’s list, Ignatova is one of the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Persons, offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to her arrest
Investigators said a key part of their business model was to pressure investors to sell additional OneCoin packs to friends and family, which was essentially a pyramid scheme to pay off 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 be placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List in its 72-year history.
She is also wanted in Germany on a red alert from Interpol, which warns she may have surgically altered her appearance to avoid arrest.
Investigators said she lived in luxury before traveling to Sofia, Bulgaria, after an arrest warrant was issued for her on October 12, 2017.
Ignatova, a lawyer, co-founded OneCoin in 2014 as a “bitcoin killer” and enticed investors to buy packages of their cryptocurrency
She was then reported traveling from Sofia to Athens, Greece on October 25 and has not been seen since.
The authorities assume that she could travel to the United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, Russia, Germany, Greece or Eastern Europe with a fake German passport.
At the peak of OneCoin’s popularity, Ignatova took the stage at Britain’s Wembley Arena, where she celebrated her success and announced that her cryptocurrency was overtaking 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 woman is Czech national Eva Zámečníková, 41, who is wanted in Slovakia after she was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for hiring an assassin to kill her ex-husband.
In January 2014, the florist agreed to pay her boyfriend Martin Adamkovič €50,000 to kill her husband – a soldier she had only been married to for two months – allegedly with the intention of declaring him missing after two years and to acquire his property.
She allegedly acquired a gun to carry out the murder but it didn’t work so she changed her plan and told Mr Adamkovič he had to strangle her husband with a rope.
Instead, he turned them over to the police and helped them stage the murder to get enough evidence.
Mr Adamkovič later became a key witness at her murder trial, claiming that Zámečníková was partly motivated by her “not wanting to support her husband anymore”.
Zámečníková denied guilt, claiming that Adamkovič wanted revenge on her for refusing to lend him money. She insisted that no evidence corroborated the information about the planned murder and said reward.
In January 2014, the florist (pictured) arranged to pay her boyfriend Martin Adamkovič €50,000 to kill her husband – a soldier to whom she had only been married for two months
The businesswoman was held in custody for several months but was released in August 2014 to give birth to her child.
She was found guilty by the Specialized Criminal Court in January 2020, but has since been on the run and is now one of the most wanted criminals in the EU.
Meanwhile, Hungarian woman Anamaria Radu-Stoica is wanted in her home country after being sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Together with two others, the 34-year-old founded an organized crime group for the purpose of sexually exploiting women and 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 prison for her involvement in dozens of economic crimes.
In the 2000s, Dudla and two associates pretended to be real companies, created fake invoices and real-looking balance sheets to borrow hundreds of millions of forints from banks.
They also sold 4,400 tonnes of corn for 250 million forints (£610,000) but never handed over any corn.
It was once believed that the 43-year-old could be hiding in Thailand, where one of her partners in crime was captured.
Hungarian Andrea Dudla (pictured) has been on the run since 2012 after being sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for her involvement in dozens of economic crimes
The only female fugitive on Europol’s 2022 Most Wanted List caught so far is Viviana Andrea Vallejo Gutiérrez, who was arrested in Malchala, Ecuador, on charges of human trafficking, drug trafficking and money laundering.
Police had been looking for the Colombian national, also known as “Vivi”, who fled Spain after being accused of running brothels where trafficked women were forced to work as prostitutes.
She is said to have been a member of an organization that charged women 1,500 euros to enter Spain, where they then had to repay the money through prostitution.
According to police, the 36-year-old was responsible for monitoring the women, who had to be available around the clock, and also provided customers with cocaine.
She faces 32 years in prison after being found hiding in Ecuador on October 28.
The only female fugitive on Europol’s 2022 Most Wanted List caught so far is Viviana Andrea Vallejo Gutiérrez (pictured), who was arrested in Malchala, Ecuador, for human trafficking, drug trafficking and money laundering