Former partner of an International Law Firm Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Involvement in $400 Million Cryptocurrency Fraud Scheme

Mark Scott, a former partner of an International Law Firm, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme amounting to nearly $400 million, as announced by Manhattan federal prosecutors. Found guilty of conspiracy to commit money laundering and bank fraud in November 2019, Scott's involvement in the OneCoin cryptocurrency fraud led U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos to order him to forfeit assets totaling $392,940,000, including bank accounts, a yacht, two Porsche automobiles, and four real estate properties. Scott, who earned over $50 million through the scheme, was introduced to OneCoin co-founder Ruja Ignatova in 2015, setting up fake investment funds to launder millions in fraud proceeds by 2016.

Despite seeking a five-year sentence and claiming to be a "broken man" in a brief filed on Friday, Scott faced prosecutors seeking at least 17 years in prison, highlighting his greed-driven motives and dissatisfaction with his already luxurious lifestyle as an equity International Law Firm partner. The former international mergers and acquisitions and private equity partner of the firm had spent the last four years in home confinement. Disbarred in November 2020, Scott's co-founder in the OneCoin scheme, Karl Sebastian Greenwood, received a 20-year prison sentence in September, while the "Cryptoqueen" Ruja Ignatova remains at large, listed on the FBI's top 10 most wanted.

SOURCE: REUTERS | JANUARY 29 2024