The sentencing of Mark Scott, the lawyer accused of having laundered millions of dollars for the OneCoin scam, has been pushed to July. Scott successfully appealed for the postponement for medical reasons.
Scott was formerly a partner at Locke Lord LLP, a Dallas, Texas-based law firm. He was charged in late 2019 with laundering at least $400 million for OneCoin, a digital currency scam that defrauded over $4 billion from millions of investors. His sentencing has been moved, again, and this time it’s to allow him to get “further medical testing.” Judge Edgardo Ramos of the New York Southern District Court has ruled that the sentencing be moved to July 14, 2020.
Scott was convicted in 2019, with the testimony of OneCoin executive Konstantin Ignatova implicating him in the scam. He appealed the decision in February, claiming that the prosecutors had failed to link him directly to the scam. The case was fully reliant on Ignatova’s testimony. He further claimed that the American justice system is out of place prosecuting him as OneCoin’s activities in the U.S. were very limited.
The government filed its opposition against Scott’s motion to dismiss in March, claiming that he was fully aware of his actions when dealing with OneCoin. Further, he had pocketed over $50 million from helping the OneCoin scammers launder their money.
Konstantin Ignatova has been in custody, cooperating with the authorities and helping them bring to book everyone involved in the scam. The biggest culprit, however, is still elusive. Ruja Ignatova was allegedly the brains behind the scam, but authorities globally are yet to arrest her. Known as ‘the cryptoqueen’, Ruja built OneCoin into a multi-billion dollar scam, attracting investment from three million investors worldwide. A report by the BBC alleges that the scam may have made off with as much as $16 billion.
And while a number of people connected with the scam have been arrested, authorities are not any closer to getting to Ruja. According to one investigative journalist who has been following the scam closely, authorities are nowhere close to cracking the case. Speaking to OCCRP, Nikolay Stoyanov, stated, “While cooperation may increase the likelihood of finding out if she is alive, where she is hiding and getting back some of the money that was stolen, it won’t necessarily increase the likelihood of bringing her to justice.”
New to blockchain? Check out CoinGeek’s Blockchain for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about blockchain technology.
