Key Takeaways
- Scott has been convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
- Prosecutors urged for a minimum sentence of 17 years for Scott
Mark Scott, a lawyer convicted for his role in money laundering through the OneCoin crypto scheme, has been handed a 10-year prison sentence by Judge Edgardo Ramos of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The sentencing, which occurred on January 25, followed Scott’s conviction in November 2019 on charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The recommendation for Scott’s sentencing came from U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, who suggested a minimum sentence of 17 years in a filing on January 19. During the hearing on January 19, prosecutors argued for the longer sentence, stating that Scott “chose to work full time” laundering funds for Ruja Ignatova, known as the ‘Cryptoqueen.’ Ignatova co-founded OneCoin with Karl Sebastian Greenwood in 2014.
Scott was found guilty of laundering millions of dollars through OneCoin, operating under the direction of Ignatova. OneCoin, established in 2014, operated as a multilevel marketing scheme, putting forward a unique proposition by promoting a cryptocurrency as the next Bitcoin.
In a separate case, Karl Sebastian Greenwood was sentenced to 20 years in prison for fraud and money laundering in September 2023, with an order to pay $300 million in restitution to OneCoin victims. Irinia Dilkinska, the former chief compliance officer at OneCoin, pleaded guilty to two felony counts in November 2023, awaiting sentencing in February.
Despite being implicated in the OneCoin scheme, Ruja Ignatova is still on the run and is listed on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Ten Most Wanted List. The charges against her include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and securities fraud.
