OneCoin co-conspirator secures more time to prepare motion for acquittal
Mark S. Scott, convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, has until January 20, 2020 to submit his motions for re-trial and acquittal.
As the criminal proceedings against a number of individuals linked to fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme OneCoin continue at the New York Southern District Court, one of the defendants in this case – Mark S. Scott, has secured more time to prepare his motions for a new trial and acquittal.
Late last week, the Court granted Scott’s motion for extension of time to submit his motions until January 20, 2020. This extension is set to allow Scott and counsel sufficient time to review the factual and legal issues that may be relevant to such motions. The government’s opposition is due February 10, 2020.
In November, Mark Scott was convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering and bank fraud.
The conviction followed a three-week trial before the Honorable Edgardo Ramos of the New York Southern District Court. Scott, a former equity partner at the law firm Locke Lord LLP, laundered approximately $400 million in proceeds of OneCoin through fraudulent investment funds that he set up and operated for that purpose. Scott was paid more than $50 million for his money laundering services, which he used to buy luxury cars, a yacht, and several seaside homes.
Beginning in 2016, Scott formed a series of fake private equity investment funds in the British Virgin Islands known as the “Fenero Funds.” He then disguised incoming transfers of approximately $400 million into the Fenero Funds as investments from “wealthy European families,” when in fact the money represented proceeds of the OneCoin fraud scheme.
Scott was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 30 years in prison.