Mark Scott, a 54-year-old lawyer accused of laundering $400 million from the OneCoin cryptocurrency fraud, has been denied a motion for a new trial. While the defendant cited several legal blunders in the original trial—including false testimony by prosecution witness—the court rejected his motion seeking fresh trial.
Back in November 2019, Scott was found guilty of money laundering and bank fraud conspiracy. Prosecutors claimed that the accused raked in $50 million—through a fraudulent fund that processed payments and transactions, fleeced from the infamous Ponzi scheme, OneCoin. This fund was allegedly set up to aid OneCoin founder, Ruja Ignatov, also known as “Cryptoqueen.”
As per a media report, Scott had filed a motion seeking a fresh trial, arguing he was unaware of OneCoin’s fraudulent nature when he set up the fund. Lawyers representing Scott were hoping to get him a new trial after allegations arose of false testimony from a government witness in the original trial.
During a hearing on Monday, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, however, dismissed the defendant’s appeal for a retrial. Judge Ramos said it was unlikely that “an innocent person may have been convicted,” even in light of the alleged false testimony given during the 2019 trial by Konstantin Ignatov, prosecution witness and brother of Ruja Ignatov. It’s worth mentioning that Ignatov had confessed to working in cahoots with his sister in the OneCoin scam.
When OneCoin launched in 2014, it was trumpeted as a potential rival to Bitcoin. Later, it was exposed as one of the largest pyramid schemes in history, which lured investors with false promises of high returns. As many as 3.5 million people fell victim to the Ponzi scheme, and were defrauded out of a whopping $4 billion. What was most shocking was that OneCoin had no actual value, despite being marketed worldwide.
Prosecutors allege that Scott used the proceeds from OneCoin scam to finance an opulent lifestyle. This included the purchase of several multimillion-dollar homes, watches, sports cars, and a 17-meter yacht, among other luxury items. Scott’s legal team plan to challenge the court’s decision because the defendant is apparently “disappointed that the court did not grant a new trial given the undisputed evidence that the Government’s sole cooperating witness perjured himself.”
The development comes just days after OneCoin’s co-founder, Karl Greenwood, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the US after being found guilty of multiple charges, including fraud and money laundering. However, his partner in crime, Ruja Ignatov, continues to evade arrest. Last spotted in October 2017, the “Cryptoqueen” has made it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Ten Most Wanted List.