U.S. Supreme Court rejects ex-law firm partner’s appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from former attorney Mark Scott, who tried to overturn his conviction for laundering nearly $400 million linked to the OneCoin cryptocurrency scam.

Scott, once a partner at the law firm Locke Lord, received a 10-year prison sentence in 2019. He also must forfeit $392 million, multiple bank accounts, a yacht, and two Porsche vehicles.

Earlier this year, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed his conviction for conspiracy to commit money laundering and bank fraud. According to Reuters, federal prosecutors said Scott helped move millions of dollars stolen through OneCoin’s global investment scheme.

Scott met OneCoin’s cofounder, German national Ruja Ignatova — known as the “Cryptoqueen” — in 2015. The following year, he began creating fake investment funds to disguise and transfer the illicit profits. Ignatova vanished in 2017 and later appeared on the FBI’s most-wanted list in 2022.

Scott argued that he only offered legal advice and did not know OneCoin was fraudulent. He also claimed his conviction relied too heavily on testimony from Ignatova’s brother, who admitted lying about destroying a laptop tied to the case. However, prosecutors said they had strong independent evidence connecting Scott to the laundering network.

Scott worked at Locke Lord between 2015 and 2016, focusing on mergers and acquisitions. The firm, now part of Troutman Pepper Locke after a merger this year, said it had no knowledge of Scott’s outside activities.