A lawyer who laundered €275m through Bank of Ireland accounts as part of a €3.3bn crytocurrency scam has been jailed for 10 years in the US. Mark Scott was convicted in November 2019 of laundering a total of almost €370m in his role within One Coin pyramid scheme run by notorious “Cryto Queen” Ruja Ignatova. Authorities said he had set up a number of bogus private equity investment funds called the Fenero Funds in the British Virgin Islands in 2015 because legitimate banks were unwilling to take Ignatova’s money. READ MORE:Notorious scammers who shocked the world – from Anna Delvey to Jordan Belfort Scott then transferred money from OneCoin victims from the Fenero Funds via Ireland and the Cayman Islands. Court documents from the US state: “Between approximately May 2016 and July 2018, the Fenero Fund Accounts funded approximately €282,000,000 in wire transfers to a series of Fenero Fund bank accounts held at the Bank of Ireland in the Republic of Ireland. “At Ignatova’s direction, Scott subsequently transferred approximately €185,000,000 from the Bank of Ireland to the accounts ofone of Ignatova’s other money launderers. “Through the use of the Fenero Funds, and the ensuing transfers, Scott successfully cleaned the funds, removing anyconnection to Ignatova or OneCoin and enabling Ignatova to move the funds where she pleased.” Bulgarian national Ignatova, who was the subject of BBC podcast The Missing Cryptoqueen, was sast seen in Dubai. She is currently one of the FBI’s Top Ten wanted fugitives, with a $250,000 reward for information leading to her capture. US Attorney for the Southern District of New York said: “Mark Scott, previously convicted at trial of laundering over $400 million of OneCoin proceeds for ‘Crypto Queen,’ Ruja Ignatova, used his law license as a means to participate in a massive money laundering scheme for a cryptocurrency that had no value since its inception. “Scott, an equity partner at a prominent international law firm, had boasted of earning ‘50 by 50.’ Indeed, Scott accomplished his goal, but by fraud and deception, and will now spend a decade in prison and has been ordered to forfeit all of his illegal proceeds.” Bank of Ireland employees were requested to testify as part of Scott’s trial, but declined. US authorities do not believe BoI were aware of the nature of the scam and do not suspect them of any wrongdoing. Join the Irish Mirror’s breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive breaking news and the latest headlines direct to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Lawyer who laundered €275m through Bank of Ireland accounts jailed for role in ‘Crypto Queen’ scam
