By Mark Scott, a former partner at U.S. law firm Locke Lord, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his involvement in Ruja Ignatova’s OneCoin crypto scam worth nearly $400 million.
According to Manhattan federal prosecutors, Scott was found guilty of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit bank fraud in November 2019, related to his participation in the OneCoin cryptocurrency fraud.
U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos also ordered Scott to forfeit $392,940,000, along with several bank accounts, a yacht, two Porsche automobiles, and four real estate properties as part of his sentence. Manhattan U.S.
Scott Earned His Fortune Through Ruja Ignatova’s OneCoin Scam
Attorney Damian Williams stated that Scott had boasted about earning $50 million by the age of 50 but achieved this through fraud and deception.
Williams added that Scott would now spend a decade in prison and forfeit all of his illicit proceeds.
#breaking: #OneCoin money launderer Mark Scott has just been sentenced to 10 years in prison, with names of clients still redacted
Inner City Press pushing to unseal, live tweeted below:
Judge Ramos: I sentence you to ten years https://t.co/4MObI9MOo6
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 25, 2024
Scott’s lawyers have not yet responded to requests for comment on the matter.
Prosecutors revealed that Scott became acquainted with Ruja Ignatova, co-founder of OneCoin and also known as the “Cryptoqueen,” in 2015.
In 2016, he began establishing fake investment funds to launder millions of dollars in fraudulent proceeds.
Scott received over $50 million for his involvement in the scheme, which he used to purchase luxury cars, a yacht, and multiple seaside homes.
In a brief filed on Friday, Scott requested a sentence of five years of imprisonment, describing himself as a “broken man” who had spent the past four years under home confinement.
He had been unable to leave his apartment except for medical or legal reasons.
Prosecutors Seek 17 Years in Jail for Scott
Prosecutors, on the other hand, sought a minimum of 17 years in prison for Scott.
They argued that his actions were driven by greed and that he was dissatisfied with the luxurious lifestyle provided by his position as an equity law firm partner, residing in a $1.5 million condo in Coral Gables and earning over a million dollars annually.
Scott was previously an international mergers and acquisitions and private equity partner at Locke Lord from June 2015 to September 2016.
A spokesperson for the firm reported that Scott had only been employed there for a short period and that they were unaware of his activities outside of the firm.
In November 2020, Scott was disbarred by a New York state appellate court.
Another co-founder of the OneCoin scheme, Karl Sebastian Greenwood, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $300 million in September.
Ruja Ignatova was added to the FBI’s top 10 “most wanted” list in July last year.
At the time, a bureau notice published offered a $100,000 reward for any information leading to Ignatova’s arrest. In 2019, she was charged with eight counts including wire fraud and securities fraud.
She is believed to hiding using some high-quality fake identity documents and might have even changed her appearance.
Ignatova was last seen boarding a flight from Bulgaria to Greece in 2017 and has been missing ever since.
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