Judge denies former OneCoin lawyer’s motion for new trial

Mark Scott worked for ‘Cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova to launder OneCoin funds

article-image

Belish/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Former OneCoin lawyer Mark Scott’s push for a new trial has been denied.

In Judge Edgar Ramos’ opinion on the motion, he ruled that the motion was denied due to Scott’s proven involvement in OneCoin, noting that he agreed to work with OneCoin after banks had begun to shut down OneCoin accounts and the City of London police were investigating the company.

OneCoin was proven to be a fraud that had no functioning blockchain back in 2017. 

“Scott, a corporate lawyer who was then a partner at an internationally recognized law firm, had extensive experience representing private equity funds, and he leveraged that experience to construct an elaborate, sophisticated money laundering operation for OneCoin,” Judge Ramos wrote.

Scott was convicted in 2019 following a three-week trial. He was convicted on one count of committing money laundering and a count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. 

According to the indictment, Scott laundered roughly $400 million through “fraudulent investment funds” and he was paid around $50 million.

Ramos noted that Scott’s trial included “hundreds of exhibits, including dozens of Scott’s own emails,” and, in addition, “the Government also offered the testimony of dozens of witnesses.” 

The judge denied the motion for acquittal or new trial for the count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud because the government was able to prove that multiple people moved to create a “joint enterprise to commit bank fraud,” and “Scott knowingly and intentionally joined the enterprise.”

In addition, Scott’s motion to request a new trial on the count of money laundering is denied on the basis that Scott “misrepresents the trial evidence.”

According to Ramos, the evidence put forth by the government about the use of US wires “constitutes an execution of the wire fraud scheme” under American law.

Last week, the US Department of Justice announced that OneCoin co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood faces 20 years in prison for his involvement in the OneCoin scheme. Greenwood pled guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy charges in December of last year.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Ethena Labs is leaping from its flagship synthetic dollar, USDe, to a full product suite—USDtb, iUSDe, and the Arbitrum-based Converge Chain—designed to marry crypto-native yields with TradFi-grade compliance. Our analysis shows how expanding into CME, ETF options, and tokenized Treasuries could lift protocol revenue from sub-$500 million in a bear case to several billion dollars if favorable regulation and institutional adoption align.

article-image

Ragnarok: Monster World says it upheld all “contractual obligations.”

article-image

Satoshi Disappear Day celebrates Bitcoin’s success without its creator

article-image

Sponsored

peaq was designed to meet the needs of DePINs, offering native features for identity, machine coordination, and real-world data validation

article-image

BlackRock’s Samara Cohen said that this is an “important moment to play out” for bitcoin on the Empire podcast

article-image

Nexo announced it’s moving back to the US, in a move that could be positive for crypto overall

article-image

Have markets been obsessing over the wrong Minsky?