Mark Scott, the lawyer convicted in connection with money laundering through the OneCoin crypto scheme, received a 10-year prison sentence from Judge Edgardo Ramos of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on January 25. Scott’s conviction in November 2019 included charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Prosecutors, led by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, had recommended a minimum sentence of 17 years for Scott, emphasizing his active role in laundering funds for Ruja Ignatova, also known as the ‘Cryptoqueen.’ Ignatova co-founded OneCoin in 2014 with Karl Sebastian Greenwood.
The charges against Scott involved the laundering of millions of dollars through OneCoin, operating under the direction of Ignatova. OneCoin, established in 2014, operated as a multilevel marketing scheme, promoting a cryptocurrency as the next Bitcoin.
In a separate case, Karl Sebastian Greenwood received a 20-year prison sentence for fraud and money laundering in September 2023, along with an order to pay $300 million in restitution to OneCoin victims. Irinia Dilkinska, the former chief compliance officer at OneCoin, pleaded guilty to two felony counts in November 2023 and awaits sentencing in February.
Despite her involvement in the OneCoin scheme, Ruja Ignatova remains on the run and is on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Ten Most Wanted List. The charges against her include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and securities fraud.
