Mark Scott, the lawyer accused of laundering $400 million in connection with the infamous OneCoin cryptocurrency scam back in 2019, has been denied a new trial. This development comes after Scott's legal team had filed a motion seeking a fresh trial, citing multiple legal errors, including false testimony, in the original trial.
Scott had been found guilty in 2019 of bank fraud conspiracy and money laundering. Prosecutors alleged that he played a significant role in a broader scheme to launder $400 million within the fraudulent OneCoin operation, spearheaded by Ruja "Cryptoqueen" Ignatov, the founder of OneCoin. As part of the accusations, Scott was accused of personally earning $50 million from the illicit operation and using these funds to maintain an extravagant lifestyle, which included luxury homes, a yacht, and three Porsches, among other indulgences.
In his motion for a new trial, Scott asserted that prosecution witnesses, including a government witness, had perjured themselves during the original trial. Specifically, Konstantin Ignatov, a government witness and the brother of Ruja Ignatov, was alleged to have provided false testimony while on the stand. However, United States District Judge Edgardo Ramos ruled against granting a new trial, stating that he was not convinced that "an innocent person may have been convicted."
Scott's legal team expressed their disappointment with the ruling, highlighting their concerns about the government's key cooperating witness allegedly committing perjury.
OneCoin: A Notorious Cryptocurrency Scam
OneCoin, launched in 2014, was initially promoted as a potential rival to Bitcoin, promising substantial returns to investors. However, it later became infamous as one of the largest pyramid schemes in history. The scheme defrauded over 3.5 million people worldwide, amassing more than $4 billion in illicit gains. A startling revelation was that OneCoin had no actual value and was marketed globally to unsuspecting investors.
In a recent development related to the OneCoin saga, Karl Greenwood, the co-founder of OneCoin, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined $300 million. He had been in custody since 2018, following his extradition from Thailand, and pleaded guilty to charges of earning a 5% commission on OneCoin transactions.
The Enigmatic "Cryptoqueen" Ruja Ignatov
Ruja Ignatov, widely known as the "Cryptoqueen," has been on the run since the collapse of the OneCoin operation. She has not been seen since October 2017 when she boarded a plane to Greece and remains on the FBI's 10 most-wanted list, with a $100,000 whistleblower reward for information leading to her capture.
Despite her fugitive status, there have been sporadic reports regarding Ignatov's whereabouts, with recent developments linking her to a property in London. Nevertheless, she remains at large, while several of her alleged co-conspirators, including Karl Greenwood, Irina Dilkinska (former head of legal for OneCoin), and Christopher Hamilton (an associate of Ignatov), have been arrested and faced legal consequences for their involvement in the scheme.
