- The lawyer reportedly received $50M from the Onecoin co-founder.
- Investigators allege that the firm raised $4.4 billion in a Ponzi scheme.
Former Locke Lord LLP partner Mark S. Scott is alleged of receiving $50 million from OneCoin co-founder and current fugitive Ruja Ignatova, also known as the “cryptoqueen”. The US prosecutors informed a Manhattan jury that Scott helped Ignatova launder a whopping $400 million. According to a report by Law360, the Manhattan US attorney’s office and the New York County district attorney’s office are in the last phase of prosecuting Scott.
OneCoin is one of the most infamous exit scams in the crypto industry. Although investigators allege that the firm raised $4.4 billion in a Ponzi scheme, OneCoin is still operational. Scott is accused of employing a wide network of fake companies, offshore bank accounts, and fraudulent investment schemes to launder more than $400 million in ill-gotten funds.
Prosecutor Julieta Lozano claimed that Scott was paid in the form of goods as compensation for his criminal activities. Scott received a 57-foot yacht, three multimillion-dollar homes in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and luxury cars, including three Porsches and a Ferrari.
Scott claims that he did not know that OneCoin was a scam. In response, prosecutor Nicholas Folly said that the evidence against Scott was “overwhelming” and “obvious.” However, Scott’s defense lawyer told the jury that there is no evidence that Mark Scott ever believed OneCoin was a scam. A spokeswoman for Locke Lord stated that the firm was not aware of Scott being involved in criminal activities. She said:
Scott, who was with our firm for a little over a year, was charged by the federal government with money laundering almost two years after his departure. We were not aware of his individual activities outside of the firm, and we have been fully cooperating and working with government authorities.
According to a Cointelegraph report published in November, Neil Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush had allegedly received $300,000 to attend a meeting involving Ruja Ignatova. Scott’s counsel David Garvin said:
Bush recalled that the head of Hoifu Energy, Dr. Hui Chi Ming, received a bunch of cryptocurrency for an oil deal in Madagascar. Bush had a residual interest in the cryptocurrency from the oil deal. Bush met the woman from the cryptocurrency company, Ruja Ignatova, in Hong Kong with Dr. Hui.
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