Key takeaways:
- Despite a prosecution witness lying under oath during his 2019 trial, the lawyer accused of laundering $400 million from the OneCoin scheme was refused a plea for a new trial.
- Ignatov, an official witness, acknowledged helping his sister Ruja commit the OneCoin fraud.
Despite a prosecution witness lying under oath during his 2019 trial, the lawyer accused of laundering $400 million from the OneCoin scheme was refused a plea for a new trial.
Bloomberg reported on September 18 that 54-year-old attorney Mark Scott claimed he shouldn’t be held accountable for his role in creating the fund that served as a money laundering scheme for OneCoin founder Ruja “Cryptoqueen” Ignatov because he was unaware that OneCoin was a fraudulent enterprise at the time.
In November 2019, Scott was found guilty of money laundering and bank fraud conspiracy. According to the evidence presented by the prosecution, Scott made a total of $50 million through a bogus fund that processed payments and transactions derived from the OneCoin scheme.
Since then, his legal team has argued for a new trial, pointing to a government witness’s misleading evidence at the first trial.
Although Konstantin Ignatov gave false testimony during the 2019 trial, United States District Judge Edgardo Ramos rejected the defense team’s motion for a new trial on September 18.
He stated that he was not persuaded that “an innocent person may have been convicted” despite this. Ignatov, an official witness, acknowledged helping his sister Ruja commit the OneCoin fraud.
Scott’s attorneys said the judgment would be appealed, adding that their client was “disappointed the court did not grant a new trial given the undisputed evidence that the Government’s sole cooperating witness perjured himself.”
OneCoin was introduced in 2014 and advertised as a cryptocurrency with a structure resembling that of Bitcoin. However, it was ultimately shown to be a pyramid scheme that attracted new members with false claims and guarantees of substantial future earnings.
According to the prosecution, Scott utilized the $50 million from OneCoin to fund a lavish lifestyle and purchase many luxury items, including a 17-meter boat, multimillion-dollar houses, watches, sports vehicles, and other luxury goods.
After Karl Greenwood, a co-founder of OneCoin, was found guilty of several offenses, including fraud and money laundering, Ramos sentenced him to 20 years in jail on September 12.
