| OneCoin
Greenwood Gets
20 Years in
Prison For
Fraud After
Cited Mafia
Case to Seal
Letters
By Matthew
Russell Lee,
Patreon Podcast Filing
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Sept 12 -- For money
laundering for scam crypto
currency OneCoin, lawyer Mark
Scott was convicted by a jury
after testimony by Konstantin
Ignatov and others but was
allowed to remain free on bail
pending sentencing.
On September 12,
2023 Judge Ramos sentenced
OneCoin co-founder Sebastian
Greenwood to twenty years in
prison. Inner City Press was
there and live tweeted, thread
here:
Greenwood is in
MDC jail tan uniform, with
four lawyers here. One
introduces his parents and
"friends" here in the
courtroom - who sealed their
letters.
AUSA Folly: This
is the culmination [What about
Ruja? Frank Schneider, on the
lam?]
Folly: #OneCoin
was a fraud
Folly: We request
30 years. This was the largest
- $4 billion in losses,
worldwide. In Madoff, 90% was
returned. Here, near zero.
Greenwood toured the globe
lying this was going to be the
next Bitcoin.
AUSA Folly:
Greenwood did it to fund his
opulent lifestyle: a Sunseeker
yacht -- Judge: What was he
doing before? Folly; 2014, an
earlier fraud, Bigcoin, with
Ignaotva. OneCoin was worse.
It used MLM
Folly:
Greenwood targeted the
unbanked. Then in private he
called them idiots. Money was
drawn from college funds. It
was laundered. [Mark Scott
still out of jail; Armenta
light sentence with much
sealed and redacted] Folly:
The Scott trial showed the
maze
Folly:
Greenwood was working at KPMG.
But he was greedy. His
submission feign kindness
[Largely sealed; US Attorney's
Office "took no position" on
sealing] Folly: Ebbers [of
WorldCom], it was a legitimate
company. Ebbers got 25 years,
though sick.
Folly:
Madoff ripped off thousands
[of victims], Greenwood,
millions. 30 years, we
request. Greenwood's lawyer
Potter: He waived Speedy
Trial. He has already paid for
his crimes. Consider his
humanity. He deserves a time
served sentence.
Potter: This is
not terrorism. Karl has been
stripped of his humanity while
in prison in these times. The
UN has criticized his Thai
prison. [Cites her memo, which
she sealed]
Potter:
Then he was in the MCC, in
2019 for the death of Epstein,
resulting in lockdown. Then
MDC. [She cites
exhibits, which she also
sealed from the public; now
cites Judge Ramos' sentencing
of Gilbert Armenta]. He has
family and [secret] friends
Potter: We
submitted 33 letters [each and
every one sealed in full] He
was far from his family. He's
not eligible for good time
credit. Ebbers did not plead
guilty, and was released after
13 years.
Potter: They
focus on loss amount Judge:
Also the number of victims
Potter: Karl pled... Mr
Armenta had easier
pre-sentence detention, with
violence. Mr Scott has served
only seven days
Potter: His
family has suffered shame. As
a non citizen he would likely
be in a private prison. Give
him a time served sentence, or
home incarceration in Sweden.
Folly: The guideline is sixty
years. We're asking for half.
Folly:
Armenta was a cooperator.
Greenwood hired him to launder
money. Please ask if there any
victims here. Judge Ramos: Are
there? Silence. Greenwood's
nameless friends smile.
Greenwood: What I did was
wrong. I passed out in
Thailand. I prayed
Greenwood: Then I
was in MCC. When I stand here
[He is sitting. He is reading]
Greenwood: I am sorry. I
exploited their cryptocurrency
drrams. This did not have to
be my life. I have been able
to help my family [Lawyer
whispers] Greenwood: Unable
Judge
Ramos: Mr Greenwood, I
sentence you to 240 months
[Twenty years] for this
massive fraud [Inner City
Press will continue to push to
unseal]
Judge
Ramos: He took everything from
victims who could not afford
to lose money. I have
considered the conditions of
confinement. But general
deterrence is needed.
[Team Greenwood, many of them
unnamed / sealed, look
deflated. There is some
hugging of comfort
Potter: We
believe this sentence is
excessive. Judge Ramos: The
foregoing constitutes the
sentence.
On
August 29,
Greenwood's
new lawyers
from Patterson
Belknap (and
two already on the case
counsel) filed
a 55-page
sentencing submission,
redacting
even the name
of a case they
cited and
withholding an
undisclosed number
of
exhibits. (They
left in Greenwood's
"MDC
Transcript," now on
Patreon here).
They
ask for
time served. They quote "Karl's
former driver in
Thailand" -
but redact
the quote, and
withhold the
entire
affidavit. This
is
unacceptable --
so Inner
City Press
filed to
unseal. Judge
Ramos
docketed it on
August 30, and
asked for response
by
September 6. That
afternoon, Greenwood's
counsel wrote
in but did no
provide a
single
unsealed
document.
Response here.
Inner
City Press
immediately
replied Reply
here.
After that,
the US
Attorney's
Office filed a
letter that it
"takes no
position" on
the sealing -
and, apparently, on
the analogy of
OneCoin
victims to the
Mob. And on
September 7,
the sealing of
all of
Greenwood's
letters of
support was
approved.
On September
11, the US Attorney's
Office - which
took no
position on
all of the
sentencing
letters being
sealed -
filed a
proposed forfeiture
order for $300
million. Filing on
Patreon here.
Watch
this site.
Watch
this site. More on
Substack here
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2023 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
