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By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Thread, Plea

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Nov 14 – After OneCoin's Konstantin Ignatov got a stay of the civil case against him, his criminal case was said to have been kicked down the road for at least another two months.

It was a productive two months, at least for the U.S. Attorney's Office.

 On November 14 the US Attorney's Office by questioning a Special Agent put into evidence emails and website which were sent to Mark Scott putting him on notice that, as one communication put it, that "OneCoin Is A Scam."

  Scott's lawyer Arlo Devlin-Brown of Covington refused to stipulate that the website was in that condition on the day in April 2016 that it was sent to Scott. He acknowledged, "This is not a good document for Mr. Scott." But both sides cited the Way-Back Machine service which shows websites as they existed on particular days in the past. The evidence came in.

  The day ended with Scott's lawyers asking to be able to argue ex-parte to Judge Ramos about a subpoena concerning an oil deal, or loan for an oil deal, pursued by Mark Scott's Fenera Funds. They said the government should be excluded from their presentation to Judge Ramos because it would expose the defense's strategy. More on Patreon here.

 The government had said it would rest its case on November 15 but it is not clear that will happen.

 On November 13 the prosecution and the defense both questioned the deputy Chief Operating Officer of Locke Lord, the law firm Mark Scott worked at from June 2015 through September 2016. Thread here.

  E-mails were shown in which OneCoin's Ruja Ignatova told Scott, "I have some cash with me. About 220K GBP. Can you store it for me in London?" Other exhibits concerned a bank in Zimbabwe, a penthouse in London, and funds put into and quickly taken out of the law firm's escrow account.

  There is also in evidence an e-mail from the defendant Mark Scott to now-cooperating witness Konstantin Ignatov, as his sister Ruja's personal assistant, stating that "I would prefer not meeting in Sophia as I don't want too many travels there on my flight list." More on Patreon here.

On November 12 Inner City Press obtained and put online here, on Scribd, Konstantin Ignatov's plea agreement, including "On the understandings specified below, the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York (“this Office”) will accept a guilty plea from Konstantin Ignatov (the “defendant”) to the above-referenced four-count Superseding Information (the “Information")...

If the defendant fully complies with the understandings specified in this Agreement, he will not be further prosecuted criminally by this Office for any crimes, except for criminal tax violations, related to his participation in: (1) an international cryptocurrency fraud scheme known as “OneCoin” (the “OneCoin Scheme"), from in or about 2016, up to and including in or about 2019, as charged in Counts One and Two of the Information; (2) a conspiracy to defraud banks and other financial institutions worldwide by causing them to transfer proceeds of the OneCoin Scheme by misrepresenting and omitting material facts to those banks and financial institutions, from in or about 2016, up to and including in or about 2019, as charged in Count Four of the Information; and (3) a conspiracy to launder criminal proceeds derived from the OneCoin Scheme, and to transfer funds internationally to promote the OneCoin Scheme, from in or about 2016, up to and including in or about 2019, as charged in Count Three of the Information; to the extent that he has disclosed such participation to this Office as of the date of this Agreement.

  It is understood that Ignatov's truthful cooperation with this Office is likely to reveal activities of individuals who might use violence, force, and intimidation against Ignatov, his family, and loved ones. Should Ignatov's cooperation present a significant risk of physical harm, this Office, upon the written request of Ignatov, will take steps that it determines to be reasonable and necessary to attempt to ensure his safety and that of his family and loved ones.

These steps may include application to the Witness Security Program of the United States Marshals Service, whereby Ignatov, his family, and loved ones, if approved, could be relocated under a new identity...

This Office will, however, bring the cooperation of the defendant to the attention of other prosecuting offices, if requested by him.  It is understood that the sentence to be imposed upon the defendant is within the sole discretion of the Court.

This Office cannot, and does not, make any promise or representation as to what sentence the defendant will receive, and will not recommend any specific sentence to the Court. However, this Office will inform the Probation Office and the Court of (a) this Agreement; (b) the nature and extent of the defendant's activities with respect to this case and all other activities of the defendant which this Office deems relevant to sentencing; and (c) the nature and extent of the defendant's cooperation with this Office. In so doing, this Office may use any information it deems relevant, including information provided by the defendant both prior to and subsequent to the signing of this Agreement.

In addition, if this Office determines that the defendant has provided substantial assistance in an investigation or prosecution, and if he has fully complied with the understandings specified in this Agreement, this Office will file a motion, pursuant to Section 5K1.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines, requesting the Court to sentence the defendant in light of the factors set forth in Section 5K1.1(a)(1)-(5).

It is understood that, even if such a motion is filed, the sentence to be imposed on the defendant remains within the sole discretion of the Court. Moreover, nothing in this Agreement limits this Office's right to present any facts and make any arguments relevant to sentencing to the Probation Office and the Court, or to take any position on post-sentencing motions. The defendant hereby consents to such adjournments of his sentence as may be requested by this Office.

 It is understood that, should this Office determine either that the defendant has not provided substantial assistance in an investigation or prosecution, or that the defendant has violated any provision of this Agreement, such a determination will release this Office from any obligation to file a motion pursuant to Section 5K1.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines, but will not entitle the defendant to withdraw his guilty plea once it has been entered.

 It is understood that, should this Office determine, subsequent to the filing of a motion pursuant to Section 5K1.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines and/or 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3553(e), that the defendant has violated any provision of this Agreement, this Office shall have the right to withdraw such motion."

 A sample TD Bank letter to Gilbert Armenta is here. We'll have more on this.

On November 7 in the case against accused OneCoin money launderer Mark Scott Konstantin Ignatov for the third and last day took the witness stand, in prison blues with his neck and arm tattoos, as a cooperating witness.

  Scott's lawyer Arlo Devlin-Brown zeroed in on Konstantin Ignatov's guilty plea to bank fraud, asking him to name which FDIC insured bank he had provided false information to.

  Ignatov could not name a US bank, only United Bank of Dubai.

"No further questions," Devlin-Brown told Judge Ramos.

  Inner City Press has asked the US Attorney's Office when it was that Konstantin Ignatov pled guilty, since he gave no indication of such a plea in a September 6 status conference that Inner City Press covered, and has asked if it was before Judge Ramos, and if it was sealed.

  The government's next witness was the anti money laundering expert Donald Semesky. Inner City Press will continue to cover the trial. November 7 thread here. More on Patreon here.

  On November 6 Konstantin Ignatov testified that the bodyguards to took Ruja on her final public trip told him she was met by "Russian guys," and that Ruja had told him that in Russia she knew a rich and powerful person. More on Patreon, here.

  November 6 came to an end in the trial with Scott's lawyer Arlo Devlin-Brown cross examining Konstantin in detail about his one and only in person meeting with defendant Mark Scott, when he visited OneCoin's headquarters in Sophia, Bulgaria. Inner City Press will have more on this as the trial continues on November 7.

  Back on November 4 before jury selection, in oral arguments Scott's lawyers asked Judge Ramos to not allow into evidence information and chats found on a Samsung Galaxy smart phone for which Mark Scott paid but was used by his wife, with a Russian keyboard. Judge Ramos declined to suppress it.

  It also emerged that still-missing Ruja Ignatova rented space underneath cooperator Gilbert Armenta to listen in on him. More on that and on jury selection (which included questions on multi level marketing) is on Patreon, here.

On Monday, October 28 in a two hour pre-trial conference covered by Inner City Press, Judge Ramos said that the government can show photos of Scott with a yacht and cars that he purchased.

  The government said the trial will take two to three weeks.

The case is US v. Scott / Ignatov, 17-cr-630 (Ramos).

 More on Patreon, here.

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