Lawyer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Laundering $400 Million in OneCoin Fraud Scheme
Mark Scott, a former equity partner at international law firm Locke Lord LLP, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos for his role in laundering approximately $400 million in proceeds from the notorious OneCoin fraud scheme. The sentencing comes following Scott’s conviction on all counts at trial on November 21, 2019, as announced by Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Williams emphasized the gravity of Scott’s actions, stating, “Mark Scott, previously convicted at trial of laundering over $400 million of OneCoin proceeds for ‘Crypto Queen,’ Ruja Ignatova, used his law license as a means to participate in a massive money laundering scheme for a cryptocurrency that had no value since its inception.”
The OneCoin scheme, which began its operations in 2014 in Sofia, Bulgaria, marketed and sold a fraudulent cryptocurrency through a global multi-level-marketing (MLM) network. Between 2014 and 2016, the scheme amassed over $4 billion from at least 3.5 million victims, making it one of the largest fraud schemes ever perpetrated.
Unlike legitimate cryptocurrencies, OneCoin had no actual value from the start and was designed as a fraud. The misrepresentations made to OneCoin investors were numerous, including false claims about the cryptocurrency’s valuation based on market supply and demand. The purported value of OneCoin grew steadily from €0.50 to approximately €29.95 per coin by January 2019, with the price never decreasing.
Scott, employed as an equity partner at Locke Lord LLP from June 2015 to September 2016, played a pivotal role in the money laundering scheme. Introduced to Ignatova in September 2015, Scott went on to create fake private equity investment funds in the British Virgin Islands, known as the “Fenero Funds,” to disguise incoming transfers of approximately $400 million as investments from “wealthy European families.”
The funds were then layered through various Fenero Fund bank accounts in the Cayman Islands and the Republic of Ireland, before being transferred back to Ignatova and other OneCoin-associated entities. Scott and his co-conspirators went to great lengths, deceiving banks worldwide, including those in the U.S., to facilitate transfers and evade anti-money laundering procedures.
Scott, who boasted about earning “50 by 50,” received over $50 million for his money laundering services. He used the ill-gotten gains to acquire luxury items, including a collection of high-end watches, a Ferrari, several Porsches, a 57-foot Sunseeker yacht, and three multimillion-dollar homes in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
In addition to the 10-year prison term, Scott, 55, of Coral Gables, Florida, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit a money judgment of $392,940,000, along with several bank accounts, a yacht, two Porsche automobiles, and four real estate properties.
Information for this briefing was found via the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
