OneCoin was recently alleged to have been a pyramid scheme masquerading as a cryptocurrency. An operation by which it raised a huge £4 billion. "OneCoin used the success story of Bitcoin to induce victims to invest under the guise that they, too, could get rich through their investments," New York state attorneys said in an official case filing.
"This was, of course, completely false because the price of OneCoin was a fiction and not based on supply and demand,” they continued.
Mark Scott, a US lawyer acting on behalf of OneCoin, now finds himself in the midst of a trial in New York, accused of laundering approximately £310 million ($400 million), while holding back the true identity of the money’s owner.
US prosecutors claim some of the funds have been directed towards Ireland, and that Mark spent a good portion of it on a new yacht, three homes and a Ferrari.
Mr Scott’s lawyers claim he did approach the FBI before getting involved with OneCoin, and was told "there was nothing illegal going on".
"The central issue at trial will be whether or not Mr Scott knew OneCoin was operating a criminal scheme," they said.
Mark Scott now faces charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, but he has pleaded not guilty. The court says the case should last around two to three weeks.
