A federal appeals court in Manhattan has upheld the conviction of Mark Scott, a former partner at the Locke Lord law firm, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his involvement in a nearly $400 million cryptocurrency fraud.
On Friday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that there was enough evidence to support Scott’s 2019 convictions. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Scott’s defense attorney, Samuel Conrad Scott, a counsel at Paul Weiss, said in a statement that his client continues to maintain his innocence. He also said they are considering further legal options to review the case.
In response to the ruling, Mark Scott expressed shock, stating that he was “stunned” by the decision. He has previously argued that his conviction was influenced by false testimony from a government witness.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the case.
Scott was convicted for his role in the OneCoin cryptocurrency scam. In addition to his prison sentence, Scott was ordered to forfeit over $392 million, along with several bank accounts, a yacht, and two Porsche cars.
Prosecutors said that Scott was introduced to OneCoin cofounder Ruja Ignatova, a German citizen known as the “Cryptoqueen,” in 2015. By 2016, Scott helped set up fake investment funds to launder millions of dollars from the fraudulent scheme.
Scott has maintained that he provided Ignatova with legal advice and was unaware that OneCoin was a scam. He worked as an international mergers and acquisitions partner at Locke Lord from June 2015 to September 2016. A spokesperson for the firm previously stated that Scott’s activities outside of the firm were not known to them.
Ignatova remains at large and was added to the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted list in 2022.
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