The lawyer responsible for laundering $400 million from the OneCoin fraud has been denied a motion seeking a new trial, despite a prosecution witness having perjured themselves in the trial against him in 2019.<\/p>\n
According to a Sept. 18 report from Bloomberg, 54-year-old lawyer Mark Scott argued that he didn\u2019t know OneCoin was a fraudulent operation at the time and should not be charged for his role in setting up the fund that laundered money for OneCoin founder Ruja \u201cCryptoqueen\u201d Ignatov.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scott was found guilty of money laundering and bank fraud conspiracy in November 2019, with prosecutors finding that Scott earned a total of $50 million through a fraudulent fund that processed payments and transactions siphoned from the OneCoin scheme. <\/p>\n
His legal team has been seeking a new trial since, citing a false testimony from a government witness in the original trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, during a Sept. 18 hearing, United States District Judge Edgardo Ramos denied the attorneys\u2019 request for a new trial, saying he was unconvinced that \u201can innocent person may have been convicted\u201d despite the false testimony delivered during the 2019 trial by Konstantin Ignatov. <\/p>\n
Konstantin Ignatov was a government witness who admitted to aiding his sister Ruja in the OneCoin fraud.<\/p>\n
Lawyers for Scott said that they would appeal the decision, claiming that his client was \u201cdisappointed that the court did not grant a new trial given the undisputed evidence that the Government\u2019s sole cooperating witness perjured himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Related: <\/em><\/strong>OneCoin head of compliance facing 40-year sentence after US extradition<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n OneCoin was launched in 2014, and marketed itself as a cryptocurrency that was similar in structure to Bitcoin. However, it was later revealed to be a pyramid scheme that functioned by luring in new users with fictitious claims and promises of high future earnings.<\/p>\n The prosecution claimed that Scott used the $50 million in proceeds from OneCoin to finance an expensive lifestyle, buying a swathe of luxury goods including numerous multimillion-dollar homes, watches, sports cars and a 17 meter yacht.<\/p>\n On Sept. 12, Ramos sentenced OneCoin\u2019s co-founder Karl Greenwood to 20 years in prison in the United States, after he was found guilty of a litany of charges including fraud and money laundering. <\/p>\n Ruja Ignatov has not been seen since October 2017 and is currently on the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s Ten Most Wanted List.<\/p>\n