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Tag: Mark S. Scott

August 19, 2024

Report: The Highly Effective Deployment of Cryptocurrencies in MLM- and Ponzi Schemes!

Recently, the arrest of an Indian victim of the global crypto Ponzi scheme BitConnect has attracted attention. The victim, Shailesh Babulal Bhatt, had lost money in BitConnect and subsequently Bhatt kidnapped two employees of BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani and successfully extorted $148 million worth of Bitcoins. Especially in the aftermath of the second Bitcoin Halving in 2016, crypto Ponzi schemes defrauded millions of naïve investors out of billions. Here is our report.

January 9, 2024

Financial Crime: The Crucial Role of Lawyers in Facilitating OneCoin and Similar Crypto MLM Frauds!

In a startling revelation of legal malpractice in the crypto industry, the OneCoin fraud case has brought to light the critical involvement of lawyers in facilitating large-scale financial scams. Recently, a German court sentenced Martin Breidenbach, an attorney implicated in the OneCoin scheme, as a money launderer. In the U.S., Mark S. Scott, a former lawyer at the reputable firm Locke Lord LLP, was also convicted of laundering $400 million from OneCoin proceeds.

March 22, 2023

OneCoin Case: Indictment Against Irina Dilkinska

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the unsealing of charges against the Bulgarian national Irina Dilkinska for participating in the massive OneCoin fraud scheme. OneCoin began operations in 2014 and was based in Sofia, Bulgaria. It marketed and sold the fraudulent cryptocurrency by the same name through an MLM network. Victims invested over $4 billion worldwide in the fraudulent cryptocurrency. Dilkinska was extradited from Bulgaria.

December 12, 2022

The Interesting Austrian OneCoin Connection!

The FCA-regulated e-Money Institution Viola Money (Europe) Ltd of Christopher Hamilton was part of the money laundering network around the crypto Ponzi scheme OneCoin of Crypto Queen Ruja Ignatova and her partner Gilbert Armenta. In December 2021, the UK FCA secured a Court decision to place the company into special administration. One of the company directors was the Austrian lawyer Juergen Brandstaetter, who is also a director in the Austrian entity of the Viola scheme.

August 8, 2022

UK FCA Approved E-Money Institution Viola Whilst OneCoin Investigations Against Its Founder!

On 21 December 2021, following an FCA application, a UK Court made a special administration order to the FCA-regulated e-Money Institution (EMI) Viola Money (Europe) Limited, established by Christopher Hamilton via the Maltese Viola Group Holdings Limited. Law enforcement investigators see Hamilton as one of the key people in the OneCoin crypto fraud scheme, who allegedly laundered more than $100 million for crypto queen Ruja Ignatova. The U.S. has requested his extradition.

May 11, 2022

Most Wanted Person – Europols chasing former OneCoin Crypto Queen Ruja Ignatova!

U.S. prosecutors indicted Bulgarian Crypto Queen Ruja Ignatova, her brother Konstantin Ignatov, and the lawyer Mark S. Scott accusing them of fraud in connection with the $4 billion pyramid scheme OneCoin. While Konstantin Ignatov and Mark S. Scott have been convicted, Ruja still remains at large. The sentencing control date for Konstantin Ignatov has been scheduled for May 12, 2022. His Ruja Ignatova sister has made it on Europol's most wanted list. A reward of up to 5.000 € is offered for any crucial information leading to an arrest of the perpetrator.

January 15, 2020

The Dark German OneCoin Empire and how Ruja Ignatova allegedly got her new Ukrainian Identity

The history of the crypto-MLM OneCoin scam definitely has all the ingredients to make a Hollywood blockbuster out of it in the near future. Based on the model of "The Wolf of Wall Street" released in 2013 with Leonardo DiCaprio in the role of the 1999 convicted US stock exchange fraudster Jordan Belfort, the OneCoin movie adaptation could fill cinemas worldwide. Surely the hundreds of thousands of aggrieved OneCoin members would buy a movie ticket. This report provides additional information and rumours around OneCoin and its Cryptoqueen.

November 22, 2019

Rise and Fall of a scam lawyer – Convicted OneCoin lawyer Mark S. Scott and the money laundering and bank fraud scheme

Mark S. Scott who was employed between June 2015 and September 2016 as an equity partner at the big US law firm Locke Lord LLP...

November 22, 2019

OneCoin US-Lawyer Mark Scott found guilty of money laundering and bank fraud

The Florida-based US lawyer Mark S. Scott, 51, has been found guilty for his role in the OneCoin crypto scam, which raised more than $4 billion from investors convinced they were buying into a new digital currency. The New York jury found that Mark S. Scott helped to perpetrate the crypto scheme, routing approximately $400m out of the US while working to conceal the true ownership and source of the funds.

November 18, 2019

OneCoin Trial – The Shakespearean drama around a cryptoqueen, betrayal, fraud, money laundering, and greed

The investigations of the U.S. authorities around the indictment in the Bulgarian Crypto-Scam OneCoin develops into a Shakespeare drama around the cryptoqueen Ruja Ignatova, her..

July 10, 2019

OneCoin Class Action Complaint – Revolution in the Bulgarian Pyramide Scheme

U.S. prosecutors have indicted Konstantin Ignatov and his sister Ruja Ignatova and accused them of fraud in connection with the pyramid scheme OneCoin. While Konstantin..

June 30, 2019

OneCoin crypto fraud case – Konstantin Ignatov has his bond application denied

According to FinanceFeeds, the OneCoin principal Konstantin Ignatov, who stands accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, has had his bond application denied by Judge..

The Unraveling of Rabidi and the Rise of the SoftSwiss Network: Our Updated Forensic Report

A few months ago, FinTelegram released a first forensic report on the bankruptcy of Rabidi N.V., a Curacao-registered online casino operator with hundreds of millions in revenues — and no traceable assets by the time of its collapse in May 2024. That report already raised serious questions about the opaque structures behind Rabidi’s operations and its successor, Liernin Enterprises Ltd.

DeFi Decoded: Smart Contracts – The Code Behind the DeFi Revolution

Smart contracts are the invisible architects of decentralized finance. These self-executing lines of code run everything from token swaps to lending platforms without middlemen. But while they offer autonomy, they also introduce new risks—bugs, exploits, and irreversible mistakes. In this fourth installment of our FinTelegram DeFi Series, we explain what smart contracts are.

CFTC

Despite New Crypto Friendlyness: No Settlement Between U.S. CFTC And KuCoin?

A planned settlement between the U.S.CFTC and crypto exchange KuCoin is now in limbo due to a reported policy shift within the CFTC. This change is attributed to the Trump administration’s new approach, which deprioritizes enforcement actions against crypto companies. As a result, a CFTC attorney said that it is "unlikely that such authorization will be granted in the near term" regarding the settlement approval.

SEC’s New Era: Paul Atkins Sworn In—Will Crypto Finally Get the Regulatory Clarity It Deserves?

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has entered a new chapter with the swearing-in of Paul S. Atkins as its 34th Chairman, a move widely anticipated to mark a dramatic pivot in how the agency approaches crypto and DeFi regulation. For years, the financial industry—especially the burgeoning digital asset sector—has bristled under the SEC’s “Regulation by Enforcement” strategy.

Crypto Mogul Changpeng Zhao – Fallen, Rich, and Rising Again?

As spring 2025 blooms and Easter’s themes of rebirth fill the air, Changpeng Zhao emerges as one of the most controversial figures of startup mythology: a man who fell spectacularly, paid a price—then rose again, wealthier and louder than ever. Once the almighty architect of Binance, CZ now resides in Dubai with a net worth that Forbes estimates at $63 billion.