Currently under investigation, OneCoin has become one of the most infamous cryptocurrency Ponzi scams. Despite that, OneCoin has denied all allegations of being a Ponzi scheme and is still operational despite the growing number of accusations and arrests of affiliated people.
Mark S. Scott is a lawyer and former partner at the law firm Locke Lord who worked closely with the co-founder of OneCoin the “CryptoQueen” Ruja Ignatova. He was accused by a US prosecutor, who told the jury in Manhattan during the trial, that Scott had received sum of $50 million to help Igantova in a money laundering case of $400 million. The proceedings of the trial were reported by Law360.
And now the court appears to agree with the prosecution and found Scott guilty, on November 21. It only took the jury several meager hours to reach this decision.
The report details that the Manhattan US attorney and the District Attorney’s Office in New York County are concluding the final part of the trial and are at the closing phase of prosecuting Mark S. Scott. The investigators have accused the crypto company based in Bulgaria, OneCoin, to have raised almost $4.4 billion in a fraudulent crypto Ponzi scheme.
Scott was accused by the prosecutors for having employed a large system of counterfeit companies, offshore bank accounts and fraudulent and misleading investment schemes to help Ignatova launder $400 million.
Prior to this, Scott was accused by prosecutor Julieta Lozano of receiving compensations for his involvement in the criminal activities. The list includes items like multiple multi-million dollar homes, 57-foot yacht and luxury cars, four of which included three Porches and one Ferrari. The sudden possession of such assets is seen as a possible evidence of his involvement with Ignatova and the cryptocurrency scam.
Scott insists that he had no knowledge of the criminal endeavors of OneCoin, but prosecutor Nicholas Folly was quick to dismiss his claims, adding that the evidence against him was obvious. The allegations by the prosecutors are being denied by Scott’s Defense Attorney, who is still trying to convince the jury that there is no concrete evidence that Scott was aware that OneCoin was a scam.
The jury didn’t buy into Scott’s insistence that he hadn’t been aware, and found him guilty.
Locke Lord Denies Involvement in the Crypto Ponzi Scheme
Scott’s former firm, Locke Lord, released a statement claiming that the firm was not aware of their former partner’s actions, Scott’s alleged involvement with those criminal activities.
Locke Lord’s statement briefed about Scott’s time frame with the company and his departure; and that almost two years after he had left, he was charged by the federal government for being involved in the money laundering case. The statement also added that Locke Lord have been fully cooperative with government authorities.
