Lawyer who laundered $400M from OneCoin scam denied new trial: Report
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.
According to a Sept. 18 report from Bloomberg, 54-year-old lawyer Mark Scott argued that he didn’t 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 “Cryptoqueen” Ignatov.
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.
His legal team has been seeking a new trial since, citing a false testimony from a government witness in the original trial.
As the #OneCoin turns: now money launderer Mark Scott's motion denied. How many years?
Docketed today: "ORDER as to Mark S. Scott's motions for a new trial pursuant to Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 29 and 33. the motions are DENIED." https://t.co/CpstHJAkrr
However, during a Sept. 18 hearing, United States District Judge Edgardo Ramos denied the attorneys’ request for a new trial, saying he was unconvinced that “an innocent person may have been convicted” despite the false testimony delivered during the 2019 trial by Konstantin Ignatov.
Konstantin Ignatov was a government witness who admitted to aiding his sister Ruja in the OneCoin fraud.
Lawyers for Scott said that they would appeal the decision, claiming that his client was “disappointed that the court did not grant a new trial given the undisputed evidence that the Government’s sole cooperating witness
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