A lawyer who helped launder over US$400 million in illegal proceeds from the notorious “Crypto Queen” scheme will be serving 10 years in prison.
Following a trial in 2019, Mark Scott was convicted for his role in the “OneCoin” fraud, which allegedly took in over US$4 billion from 3.5 million victims worldwide between the end of 2014 and the end of 2016 in a multi-level marketing scheme involving the cryptoasset.
According to U.S. authorities, Scott, a former partner in Dallas-based Locke Lord LLP, helped the scheme’s alleged mastermind — Ruja Ignatova, known as the “Crypto Queen” — by funnelling approximately US$400 million in proceeds from the scheme into fake, offshore private equity funds. The funds then allegedly transferred their assets through bank accounts in the Cayman Islands and Ireland before returning them to Ignatova.
“As part of the scheme, Scott and his co-conspirators lied to banks and other financial institutions all over the world, including to banks in the U.S., to cause those institutions to make transfers of OneCoin proceeds and evade anti-money laundering procedures,” the U.S. authorities alleged.
Based on his 2019 conviction, Scott, who was paid over US$50 million for his money laundering services, has now been sentenced to spend 10 years in prison by a U.S. district court judge, followed by three years of supervised release.
He was also ordered to forfeit US$392.9 million, along with various bank accounts, a yacht, luxury cars and real estate that were purchased with the proceeds of his crimes.
Ignatova has been charged with securities fraud and various counts of conspiracy in the Southern District of New York, and a federal warrant has been issued for her arrest. She remains at large, and is on the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives list.