Despite facing calls to testify against the OneCoin scam, Bank of Ireland (BoI) staff have now reportedly pulled back from helping court proceedings voluntarily.
According to a court letter filed yesterday, seen by Finance Feeds, the US government is finding it increasingly difficult to secure voluntary testimonies from Deirdre Ceannt, Derek Collins, Diane Sands, and Gregg Begley – the BoI’s staff involved in the case.
It was initially thought the witnesses were willing to provide a voluntary account however, court documents say they will now only cooperate when it’s compulsory.
The Bank of Ireland reportedly told the US government that Ceannt and Sands would not testify voluntarily. A day later, the bank informed the government that Begley and Collins would follow suit.
In reality, all this has done is cause a bureaucratic headache for the courts and slowed proceedings. The US government has already submitted the relevant paperwork to push through a request for BoI staff to testify on a compulsory basis.
Prosecutors accuse Mark Scott, a former partner with international law firm Locke Lord, of laundering $300 million on behalf of the OneCoin scam through accounts held at the Bank of Ireland. Those called on to testify worked at the bank and processed paperwork related to the allegedly fraudulent accounts handled by Scott.
The OneCoin scam was headed by Bulgarian brother-sister duo, Konstantin Ignatov and Ruja Ignatova. At glamorous events, the pair promised to be launching a cryptocurrency unlike any other. Only, it was all fake, there was no blockchain and there was no cryptocurrency.
It’s thought to be one of the biggest cryptocurrency scams, ever. The total figure the duo managed to steal isn’t exactly known, but estimates suggest it’s at least $3 billion.
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Update, October 14, 1057UTC: The Bank of Ireland contacted Hard Fork to say that it has cooperated with requests from the US authorities for information and assistance throughout the above investigation.
There has been no change in that position and cooperation will continue in accordance with relevant Irish legislation, it added.
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