OneCoin scammer indicted on $400 million money laundering charge
After seemingly little no progress on the regulatory front for some time, a key OneCoin insider has been indicted on a money laundering charge in the US.
Mark Scott was indicted by federal grand jury on August 21st, on money laundering charges related to the OneCoin Ponzi scheme.
On the same day Scott was indicted, a warrant was also issued for his arrest. Authorities apprehended Scott on September 5th.
Scott’s indictment follows a joint FBI and DOJ investigation. According to a filed affidavit in support of his arrest, Scott has been charged with Conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Mark Scott is a licensed attorney in Florida. As is typical of the scheme, Scott is alleged to have laundered OneCoin investor funds through several shell companies.
In addition to MSS International Consultants, registered in the British Virgin Islands, Scott laundered funds and brought property in the US through “133 Sunset Lane Acquisition Limited” and MSSI 31 Dale Avenue Property Group LLC.
133 Sunset Lane Acquisition Limited was used to purchase a $2.85 million dollar Massachusetts mansion Scott and his wife Lidia Kolesnikova (right) resided in.
MSSI 31 Dale Avenue Property Group was used to purchase a $3.7 million dollar mansion in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts in 2017.
Federal prosecutors allege Scott laundered around $400 million dollars in stolen investor funds, with the aim of
conceal(ling) and disguis(ing) the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity (in relation to) a pyramid scheme involving a purported cryptocurrency known as “OneCoin”.
The indictment observes transactions of OneCoin investor funds between entities based in the US and abroad.
The indictment also contends that Scott should forfeit to the federal government any property or money traceable to the money laundering offense, and that if any such property or money cannot be found, has been sold or has been diminished in value, the government should seek forfeiture of other property belonging to Scott up to the full amount of what should be turned over.
Following his arrest, Scott was transported to the Southern District of New York.
The New York case docket reveals sealed filings in the case against Scott were first filed on October 17th, 2017. Dates specified in the indictment are from 2016 to present.
When exactly US authorities began investigating OneCoin is as of yet unclear.
One possibility is that several filings still under seal in Scott’s criminal case docket, may contain information on related cases against other individuals.
On September 10th, Scott’s $2.5 million bail was posted and he was released on strict travel conditions, including surrender of travel documents and home detention with electronic monitoring.
When authorities arrived at Scott’s Massachusetts home to serve the warrant, they found his wife with an infant ‘and an unsecured weapon on an end table in the vicinity of the child‘.
Lidia Kolesnikova, who does not have a license to carry, was charged with reckless endangerment of a child.
Kolesnikova, 42, pleaded not guilty to the charge last week in Barnstable District Court.
She was released on her own recognizance on condition that she surrender her firearms and not have firearms in any home where children are present, according to the documents.
As at the time of publication, that’s all we know. We’ll be keeping you up to date on how both cases play out, so stay tuned for that.
One point I want to stress is Scott’s indictment mentions persons “known and unknown”, suggesting the FBI and DOJ’s investigation into OneCoin is ongoing.
How deep this goes and whether further arrests are made as OneCoin’s money laundering network is dissected remains to be seen.
And a final thought for OneCoin affiliates still in denial about the fraudulent nature of the business:
Still think Ruja Ignatova is on maternity leave?
Taking bets on how Igor Krnic is going to scamsplain his way out of this one…
How do I get into this “ICO” before it’s too late???
This is big and great news! 400 million dollars of criminal money!
Now that DoJ names OneCoin as a pyramid scheme in relation to financial crime I think this can have major repercussions worldwide. Auhtorities still sleeping in many countries might have to wake up.
If Mark Scott had laundered money the way that OneCoin’s terms and conditions dictate he wouldn’t be facing these charges.
The real shame here is that all the “haters” are going to use Mr. Scott to disparage all the honest, hard working money launderers who were laundering OneCoin funds the “right” way.
I doubt anybody will even mention it on Igor’s forum.
But if they do, then my guess is the explanation will be something in the lines of “nothing to do with OneCoin company, nobody from the company arrested! This is just another piece of hater propaganda!”.
I was wondering how close Ruja and Lidia Kolesnikova are.
One thing is for sure, if Scott agrees to a plea deal, Ruja and company could be in a world of hurt.
Tempting as hell but I made it a point not to read into that surname. Not at least until we know more.
No mention of if and what has been seized from their house. If Scott squeals it could get very interesting.
Well, back in 2016 when OneCoin announced they were going to launch in the US. There were several cities where US members did seminars, and these were the major promoters:
Tom McMurrain
Kevin Foster
Sarah McGee
Glenn Smith
Carl Wilt
Ken Labine – Canada – recruits in USA
Sheri Hilliard-Pearce
Jason Richard Mangan
Charlotte Mangan
Joseph W Piper
Jodi Tressler Greene
Keith Bliss
Stan Harris
Mike DiGaetano
Michael & Latasha DeArmond
Jeff Shofner
John Reilly
Greg Knox
Ray Lopez
Bob Byrum
Willie Tubbs
Mary Spicer
Kaytee Godiva
Brent Patrick
Beverly Washington
Sandy Davis
Tory Bailey
Mark Halbig
Margie Scott
Erik Enriquez
Jack Palis
Patricia Ann
Jeff Litzenberger
Barbara Lloyd
Lucille Bolton Shannon
Alan C. Delaney
Andy McCormack
Joseph A Mitchell
Rick Harris
Katherine Clement
Erick Brent
Ellis Vernon
Dean Hackney
Tom Cao
Robert Townsend
Crystal Marie Spath
Belinda Aquino
Susan Bayerle
Jennifer Vloggity-Korol
Wayne Bailey
Shanna McCarty
Robin ‘Robertson’ Keith
Steve Stucke
John Reilly
Richard Marks
Kind of makes you wonder if this announcement shook them up a little thinking they might be next?
The amount laundered suggests Mark Scott was an insider. No idea how deep his wife was involved.
OneCoin net-winner promoters might face action at some point (let’s be realistic, far too late), but not until the big fish have been caught.
New DealShaker should have PayPal integrated. I wonder what PayPal will think, being a US company, about being integrated in OneCoin’s platform considering there’s now OneCoin related 400 million USD money laundering case in US federal court..
Something else to consider: it took the seizure of less than $50 mill to kill off OneCoin in China, the biggest market at the time.
If the US can track and seize a decent percentage of the $400 mill Scott laundered, yeah there’s not going to be any coming back from that.
I also recall Melanie mentioning a recent Uganda event was cancelled. Probably more of that on the way too, although Konstantin might persist a while longer in countries he’s not worried about getting extradited from.
Hey guys this is Konstantin and I’m soooooooooo happy to be sharing this event with you.
We’re coming live from the middle of a desert somewhere! There are thousands of us here but due to new KYC laws in *kerflegerflemumble* I can’t show you their faces.
Can I get some noise though?!
…
(excuse me, mr. ignatov sir…)
…what do you mean the cheer track won’t play?! Cut the feed…
Just to keep up appearances.
Y’know the account they use isn’t going to directly reference OneCoin or DealShaker.
With Scott out though wonder who they’ll get to set up “Totes nothing to do with OneCoin or DealShaker LLC” or whatever nondescript name they come up with.
Don’t forget Denis Murdock from the USA list.
The guy is still selling shares from expensive OneCoin packages and promising “84,000% Return without Risk”, like a pro OneCoin IMA.
(Ozedit: link 404 as of March 2019)
I also left out Sal Leto, Maruice Katz and Steve Gotberg who were trying to get a deal between iPro Network and OneCoin so US citizens could participate and get paid.
If my memory is correct, Maurice flew to Bulgaria to meet with Ruja and the team. A deal could not be worked out, but if it had, Ruja was going to give them the database so they could know who in the US was in OneCoin.
When it fell through, they were telling people to go offshore and register so they could participate and wouldn’t be blocked by OC for logging in and new people joining. I have no doubt that many did exactly that.
I have to wonder if Tom McMurrain isn’t a little scared about now with these charges being filled because of his participation at a senior level in OC.
It was “too late” two years ago, but that doesn’t seem to have stopped the desperadoes, so, go for it.
Has anyone asked the Cape Cod Times reporter if she has the full indictment document or does it contain more references to OneCoin?
I quoted from the indictment, it’s clear the money laundering charge pertains the laundering of funds obtained through operation of OneCoin.
There’s likely more to the case in the additional sealed files but I can’t even tell what type of filings they are from the docket at this stage.
Yes, but have you read or do you have the full indictment document? If you have it, it would nice to upload it somewhere.
If the recent indictment documents from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation are anything to go by, they may contain detailed description of the crime and references to co-conspirators.
@Semjon
I have alerted the German BaFin to the latest activities of OneCoin, but so far have not received an answer. BaFin, like all German authorities, works extremely slowly. 🙁
I accessed the full indictment to put the article together. It didn’t go into details or I’d have covered it. Was only 1-2 pages from memory, most of which was checkbox questions.
You’re thinking of the evidence presented to obtain the indictment. Might be one of the four or five still sealed documents in the case, which I don’t have access to.
Unpleasant questions and facts ignored Igor Krnic of course! Here is a current example.
Since Igor Krnic knows my name, I have asked my sister to send him an e-mail again. Does anyone wonder that the chief excuse officer has not answered the e-mail yet? To protect my sister, I have removed her address:
NOLINK://share-your-photo.com/39ad3a7802
Explanation: In the past, Krnic answered all the e-mails he received about my sister!
He looks like he’s eaten all the Bitcoins 🙁
@Lynndel
The newspaper article mentions:
But even his wife, Lidia Kolesnikova, could come from Germany, because this name is displayed in the German phone book.
However, the name is not uncommon and under no circumstances a typical German name. It has its origins in the Balkans (South East Europe) or Russia.
Ruja also came from Germany, and her husband is German. I was just wondering if they were close because all the original higher-ups in OC have known and done business with Ruja for years.
We also know the Russians are heavily involved in OC, so was merely curious if there might be a connection between the two. I just wouldn’t be surprised if they were.
Hopefully Carl Wilt, Greg Knox and Bob Byrum all in Tennessee will Be next. Their “seminars” stole tens of thousands from investors.
@Lynndel
The millions stolen by Ruja and Konstantin must somehow be washed. Maybe Ruja’s husband Björn Strehl wants to help her with his company Matunos GmbH, founded in March 2017.
I quote from his website:
NOLINK://share-your-photo.com/9227869b85
The website matunos.de is completely unprofessional. No real estate agent would go public like that. No landline phone, just a mobile number and so on …
In the German commercial register one recognizes that this “company” was founded with only 25,000 euros. That is the minimum sum for the establishment of a German GmbH.
NOLINK://share-your-photo.com/b3cd20c63d
Considering all the ongoing unofficial events, I wonder if this scam continues to roll on its own after Konstantin leaves the office?
IIRC some Indian OneCoin scammers had first bought the “educational package”, then “mined” the coins (that for their face value would be worth 10x what they paid) and then the scammers sold beginner accounts where coins were moved, charging by the face value of the coin, earning their investment back in multiples.
It was much more profitable than selling the packages for the networking bonuses and could be done as long as the backoffice server is still running, even if OneCoin Ltd. no longer would have any activity left.
When people start to abuse a scam systerm for additional scams, we’re getting to some interesting stuff. 😀
@Otto
In a large organization that is no longer run and controlled, it’s easy to cheat. Many IMAs operate in their own pockets.
No wonder, if a “company” does not have its own bank accounts and has to work with “distributors” and “gift codes”.
Uploaded to YouTube yesterday:
2,634 views – 29 likes – 61 dislikes – no comments
NOLINK://share-your-photo.com/d915713c67
The famous Dealshaker merchant that sells 5-10 year old jeans has opened last 181 deals for sale today. Once the affiliates rush in to exchange their worthless ponzi-coins to something that has a non-zero real world value, the shop should be out of stock in no time.
I wonder what they will come up with next to keep the victims under the illusion that one day they could get their money back?
NOLINK://dealshaker.com/en/merchant/VDRMNft-pjmWxGgF5WSirvUicMg5eSRmp7SgPwP4U*k~/info
Well, a Bulgarian reporter wrote an article (NOLINK:capital.bg/biznes/kompanii/2018/09/24/3314860_amerikanski_advokat_e_arestuvan_za_prane_na_400_mln/) about Mark Scott’s arrest and sent a list of questions to OC to answer.
They replied Mark Scott has nothing to do with OneCoin, OneCoin is not a Ponzi and has no revenue from MLM.
Their typical response anytime an action is taken against OC and their IMA’s or negative news stories.
Interesting isn’t it that when real companies are charged with something they don’t come out and immediately claim they are not a Ponzi like OC always does. But then I am just a hater so what do I know?
@Lynn
It’s pretty easy for OneCoin to issue denials after the fact.
New Onecoin investment tanked in 2017 and whatever amount they’re still laundering (mostly through bitcoin I gather) isn’t anywhere near the $400 mill Mark S. Scott hid for them during OneCoin’s prime.
Not withstanding OneCoin has disavowed anyone caught (arrested affiliates in India and China come to mind).
Anyway, I look forward to Scott calmly explaining to prosecutors he had no relationship with OneCoin in his defense.
After which they’ll probably commend him and go out for beers hey. #inbe4 this gets copy and pasted onto some desperate schmucks Facebook page.
@Otto
Old jeans are boring! I buy on 10 October 2020 a new notebook for 20,30 ONE. From the Philippines. Self-organized shipping. If the DealShitter portal still exists. You can also buy a new notebook. Not immediately, but from October 10, 2018. There are still 5,000 available!
NOLINK://share-your-photo.com/6a03fd4587
@Melanie
Interestingly enough vast majority of the lucrative “100% on OneCoin” deals are dated to open on 8th of October 2018 (or soon after). That is the date OneCoin was supposed to “go public”. This includes notebooks, iPhones and Kralev Cars.
(I think I should gather a bunch of links to the actual deals so I could follow what happens to them after October 8th. My guess is that the links will all of a sudden give 404 error.)
@Otto
On a German-language website of a GLG member states:
(Translated by Google)
NOLINK://share-your-photo.com/75dd836305
That falls apart upon consideration nobody except OneCoin affiliates were/are gullible enough to invest in OFC points.
And the “Global Manager” continues to spread meaningless phrases instead of facts:
NOLINK://share-your-photo.com/3f45e211b5
@Melanie
That’s originally from the onecoinico.io FAQ.
All they have to worry about now is getting badly burned.
Why you don’t write about Vaselina Valkova. Currently she running the company after konstantin arrested in USA & sucking last drop of blood from the people but not coming publicly.
I can provide you her picture if you want.
Please put it on some free image hosting service (imgur, imgbb, etc.) and share the link with everybody here.
Tony emailed me a copy of the photo:
Not really sure what you’re expecting me to write about her. It’s not like we’re holding back info because we didn’t have a photo of her.
As you’re aware Valkova mostly operates in secrecy. The DOJ has only referenced her as a possible co-conspirator (and even then we’re not 100% sure they’re talking about her).
Thanks!
Looks like she is indeed the “online casino lady” I wrote about. Very similiar face IMO.
See my comment:
https://behindmlm.com/companies/onecoin/konstantin-ignatov-denied-release-will-stay-locked-up-till-onecoin-trial/#comment-412088
The above photo of Veselina Valkova is from 2015. Here is a more recent photo from February 2019:
share-your-photo.com/affe98e6d4
facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004155912364
Obviously, Veselina Valkova is a woman after all, though she published this photo of herself on New DealShaker by Duncan Arthur: 😀
share-your-photo.com/be894e7ae1
@Melanie from Germany
Vain isn’t she?