Mark Scott, a lawyer connected to the OneCoin crypto scheme recently convicted for fraud and money laundering, has been granted bail pending an appeal of his case.
In an April 18 filing in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Edgardo Ramos approved bail for Scott three months after sentencing the lawyer to prison for 10 years. A portion of the court filing had been redacted regarding Scott’s health issues, which his legal team argued did not make him a flight risk.
“Based on the record before the Court, given Scott’s medical conditions and because he has not been charged with a violent crime, the Court does not find that Scott is likely to flee or pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community if allowed to remain on bail,” said Judge Ramos.
According to a notice filed on Feb. 7, there were “substantial questions” of law to consider in a possible appeal. Scott’s legal team suggested Konstantin Ignatov — brother of Ruja “Cryptoqueen” Ignatova and a leader of the OneCoin scheme — had perjured himself, but prosecutors still used his testimony in their case.
“[T]he Court believes it is quite doubtful that Scott will obtain a reversal or new trial on both counts,” said the judge. “But the Court cannot say that the questions are frivolous. And they are sufficiently integral to the merits of Scott’s conviction that a contrary appellate holding could likely require a reversal or new trial on all of the counts for which Scott has been imprisoned.”
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In November 2019, a jury convicted Scott of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering related to his role in laundering millions of dollars through OneCoin. The lawyer laundered funds at the direction of OneCoin co-founder Ruja Ignatova, who remained at large at the time of publication.
OneCoin co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood was sentenced to 20 years on fraud and money laundering charges in September 2023 and ordered to pay $300 million in restitution to OneCoin victims. Former OneCoin chief compliance officer Irinia Dilkinska pleaded guilty to two felony counts and was sentenced to four years in prison on April 3.
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