Topic: Bitcoin Savings and Trust is closing (Read 29629 times)

Philip Moustakis
Senior Attorney
Division of Enforcement
United States Securities & Exchange Commission
3 World Financial Center, Suite 400, New York, NY 10281-1022
(212) 336-0542

The there is a lot of FUD in "Got off the phone with the Guy from the S.E.C"  thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=112438.220
DO NOT READ IT.  It is full of misinformation.  

This should be the thread to discuss how you can participate in the SEC investigation. Maybe Phil will even sign up and answer your questions (but that may be a conflict of interest for him).  Theymos, if he does please let him out of the newbee sections.

The links above and below contain a pdf from the SEC on google docs that contain the full text of your right to voluntarily supply information to an SEC civil investigation.  It a little long and daunting and can freak people out but I'll pull out the highlights below.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-33azoziRiZbTFXc0lxcV9SWHc


I also just got off the phone with Philip Moustakis.  Nice guy.  We chatted for about an hour. Unfortunately any info others have given me is not relevant to him as he needs to speak with defrauded investors.  Without witness willing to come forward to explain to the SEC the nature of their investments with Trendon Shavers they can't  make a case.  If they can not make a case  then Trendon Shavers stays on the beach in Mexico spending your precious bitcoin.

Here is the deal.  This is NOT a criminal investigation.  This is a civil action.  Philip is essentially on a fact finding mission.  At the end of this fact finding he has to present the FACTS to the Commissioners and they decided if there is enough evidence to make a case against Trendon Shavers.  If there is not enough evidence,  Trendon Shavors remains on the Beach in Mexico spending what remains of your Bitcoins.

AS PER US SECURITIES LAW: THE SEC WANTS TO KNOW IF TRENDON SHAVER MADE ANY MISREPRESENTATION OR MATERIAL OMISSION TO YOU, ON WHICH YOU RELIED TO MAKE AN INVESTMENT DECISION IN ANY BITCOIN SECURITIES OFFERING.  IF THIS IS THE CASE SECURITIES LAWS WERE VIOLATED AND THEY MAY BE ABLE TO PURSUE PROSECUTION.  

HOWEVER IF YOU WERE A PPT AND YOU ALSO MISREPRESENTED OR OMITTED RELEVANT INFO ON WHICH YOUR INVESTORS RELIED TO MAKE INVESTMENT DECISIONS THEN YOU ALSO VIOLATED SECURITIES LAW.   YOU'RE FUCKED.  GAME OVER.  TRENDON WINS.  

So while PPT guys may be out if they knew of trendon's fraud,  EVERY regular investor should get on the phone on Tuesday and call Phil  at  (212) 336-0542 and talk to him or set up an interview if you are in NY.  While there are many many victims, if no one comes forward they can not prosecute and Trendon walks.

[EDIT]
There is also the possibly that under appropriate circumstances, the SEC can offer a witness a proffer agreement, and that there are certain cooperation tools at these disposal.  You should discuss exactly what that means with Phil if you don't already know.
[/EDIT]

Call Phil  and talk to him.  (212) 336-0542


Phil is not going to answer your questions about the investigation.  Any information about the investigation is not publicly available.  Any evidence you provide will also NOT be made publicly available, however it will be shared internally and with appropriate authorities.  

If you decided to get involved know that you are being interviewed VOLUNTARILY.   You can terminate the interview at any time.  You can refuse to answer any question at any time.  (It is not an interrogation). You have to state what country you are from as US involvement with witness from to foreign jurisdictions  may have to be approved or handled in a certain way.  You have to to tell the SEC who you are and how to get in touch with you. If the information in the interview is helpful and a civil action is brought against Trendon you may have to participate in civil action.  

The SEC has NO criminal authority.  No one is going to arrest you, however they can refer matters so state or local authorities.

You DO NOT want to give false statements.

Again the gritty details on in this 5 page pdf file:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-33azoziRiZbTFXc0lxcV9SWHc

If you DO NOT take action Trendon Shaver fraud continues and he wins. It 's as simple as that.  

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.  

**** I am not a lawyer.  this is my recollection of my telephone conversation with Phllip Moustakis. I will also be emailing this text to Phillip to to correct any factual errors or inaccuracies.

Sorry this isn't up to my usual prose and totally lacking details/info, but I'm rushed tonight and need sleep... yes, I made the call. BTW thank you Bruno and BCB for talking with me today, it was a great help. I will write up a more detailed update on the trendon/pirate situation sometime this week so that everyone knows what's going on. There's no longer any reason for me to hide what I'm doing, which means the information I've gathered will go back into the public sphere soon. It will be very useful to re-establish a central repository and official information update thread to keep track of everything.

The information I've gathered recently on Trendon is very, very bad. In short: btcst was definitely a scam from day one, and everything that Trendon has ever said has been a lie. Not only that, but btcst is just one of many scams and thefts that Trendon has been involved with in his lifetime. Amazingly he got away from his last major theft (prior to btcst) without prosecution, for many of the same reasons that everyone is now sitting on their hands (he made himself judgement proof while "stringing along" his victims for many months).

He's not a normal guy either: everything that I've learned about his past (and present) fits perfectly into psychopathic personality disorder, especially with the way he put his real identity right on the face of his ponzi, including the Las Vegas dinner (hint: it's all an ego thing).

The last I heard from the SEC lawyer looking into the case is that they wanted to get a warrant on Trendon, but do not yet have enough information to get one, so we should figure out exactly what information they need to get a warrant and work with the bitcoin community to provide that information to them ASAP. BCB and I already talked and he'll probably be the go-between here between the community, myself, and the SEC.

I also know with near certainty that Trendon has at least 10% of the outstanding coins at his disposal (probably more), but don't hold your breath on getting any coins back at all. Civil court is a total waste of time, so stop even thinking about it: these types of people usually hold out until the bitter end. From what the SEC has said, their intentions are to use coin repayment as a means to bargain against a criminal sentence, which I'm certain is the only possible way any coins can be retrieved. So it's very important that we gather up accurate information about who is owed what to provide to the SEC so that whatever % is recovered can go out equitably.

Let me know if you have any questions. You can expect a stickied thread from me later in the week as well as the re-emergence of a defined plan of action, all involved parties and info, real communication to and from the SEC, a central repository for everything, and more.

-BrightAnarchist

Q: What's going on?
A: In short, one of my largest clients decided they would make things difficult for me.  In the heat of the moment I made a move to secure the USD backing the coins when they were not returned and has made things much more difficult.

Q: Where have you been?
A: I realize not having information is annoying and somewhat concerning. I’ve stopped responding publicly until hard information was available due to some legal concerns that developed.  Once the attorneys (both mine and my clients) got involved, everything slowed down while everything was sorted out.

Q: When will we get our coins?
A: As of today the earliest estimated time that coins can begin moving is Friday, Oct 12th.  I can only keep you updated on this date as I have more information.

Q: Why did you require PPT operators to submit their account holders information?
A: There’re a few reasons for doing this.  The largest of which was to remove the PPT operators from the added risk of their users claiming they were not paid once the main account was paid. The other reasons can not be disclosed.

Q: What is going to happen with bond issuers?
A: Since bonds can be traded and have taken a large hit due to the closure of BTCST, I’ll be working with the bond issuers to find a solution that best suits their investors.

Also...

Those looking to file a suit against me or BTCST will not be eligible for repayment.

GPUMAX has never been associated with BTCST nor have any of it’s partners.  GPUMAX shared a wallet with one of the BTCST operating wallets for security and is now running it’s own secured wallet which is no longer associated with BTCST.

Threats are taken seriously by myself and my attorney.  A few of you will find out how serious I mean.

That’s all for now, I’ll be providing updates here when more information is available.

Thanks

[2012/09/01 16:25:22] <@pirateat40> Total Accounts Repaid: 23/459 (subject to required information)
[2012/09/01 16:27:28] <@pirateat40> HOWDY!
[2012/09/01 16:29:05] <@pirateat40> The PPT that didn't' comply will have a long road ahead.  Those that contacted me ahead of time "Friday" are clear.
[2012/09/01 16:30:02] <@pirateat40> I'm wanted to speak for awhile now, but I someone stole my ship.
[2012/09/01 16:30:35] <@pirateat40> Finally things are progressing and I've returned to my boat.
[2012/09/01 16:30:54] <@pirateat40> It's going to get better to some, I promise.
[2012/09/01 16:31:26] <@pirateat40> That's all for now, back to your regularly scheduled trolling.

11:53 <@pirateat40> scottjp, as am I, ill release an update here later today when I have RealSolid info. (hehehe)
11:55 <@pirateat40> I not giving out times or dates anymore since nothing seems to be on schedule except the mention of "pirate" every 10 seconds.

17:12 <@pirateat40> Total Accounts Paid: 11
17:12 <@pirateat40> All small accounts.

18:47 <@pirateat40> clearout, I haven't seen him.
18:47 <@pirateat40> I think he's running with the coins.
18:47 <@pirateat40> Since that always seems to work out.
18:49 <@pirateat40> Who thinks pirateat40 is going to run with the coins?
19:21 <@pirateat28> hm
22:31 <@pirateat40> Vinnie_win, you'll know soon enough, stop asking.
22:32 <@pirateat40> I'm gone for 4 hours and this place goes to hell.
22:34 <@pirateat40> honestbob, thanks but no thanks.
22:36 <@pirateat40> Update: I'm serious hard pressed for time to win a side-line bet on my payout.  I'm working as fast as I possibly can and will update you "IN THIS CHANNEL" when things really start to move.
22:37 <@pirateat40> Thanks guys, have a good night.

22:31 <@pirateat40> Vinnie_win, you'll know soon enough, stop asking.
22:32 <@pirateat40> I'm gone for 4 hours and this place goes to hell.
22:34 <@pirateat40> honestbob, thanks but no thanks.
22:36 <@pirateat40> Update: I'm serious hard pressed for time to win a side-line bet on my payout.  I'm working as fast as I possibly can and will update you "IN THIS CHANNEL" when things really start to move.
22:37 <@pirateat40> Thanks guys, have a good night.
00:15 <@pirateat40> Who's next?
00:15 <@pirateat40> I want to sleep,
00:15 <@pirateat40> copumpkin, where were you?
00:15 <@pirateat40> [\\\], cleaned up your mess
00:15 <@pirateat40> thank satoshi for [\\\]
00:18 <@pirateat40> jk
00:18 <@pirateat40> lol

20:06 <@pirateat40> At this point and in an attempt to stop the bleeding (interest) I'm going to be forced to payout everyone at once, which I'm sure will piss off enough people to counter the lack of payouts but I don't see any other way of handling this.
20:09 <@pirateat40> My concern is not "winning" the bet as much as it is "donating" the winnings.  With the events of this week causing delays, 5K worth of coins is a piece of sand compared to the amount of money I'm losing every hour.
20:13 <@pirateat40> I'm doing everything in my power within the contracts of the "Real World" to get things moving as fast as possible.  If, I end up losing the bets and spending everything I worked for to make things right I will.  I will not be giving any additional times or dates until I know exactly when things will happen.
20:17 <@pirateat40> I know you guys want updates and communication, but I'm somewhat muted by the personal attacks and legalities of whats going on. There is a lot more to this story than just "Send me back my coins."  If I had all the coins just sitting around I would've has this wrapped up a long time ago.

Wednesday, August 22



The supposed payment:

Smaller accounts is apparently getting paid already according to Pirate himself on IRC. Proof posted by another guy on IRC:

Well, it looks like I can no longer simply sit here and do nothing. Pirate seems to think he is above the law.

Can someone please paste every line he posted to #btcst today?

EDIT: nvm, i'll do it. give me a sec.

Here's the raw, unedited log: http://www.bitbin.it/MKzYy6Bi

I'll snip and post pirate's comments in a moment.


And then there's this guy:


So, that was it for monday? No answers, no promises?

After much consideration, I’ve decided to close down Bitcoin Savings & Trust. 

Why?
The decision was based on the general size and overall time required to manage the transactions.  As the fund grew there were larger and larger coin movements which put strain on my reserve accounts and ultimately caused delays on withdraws and the inability to fund orders within my system.  On the 14th I made a final attempt to relieve pressure off the system by reducing the rates I offered for deposits.  In a perfect world this would allow me to hold more coins in reserve outside the system, but instead it only exponentially increased the amount of withdrawals overnight causing mass panic from many of my lenders.

So now what?
I’ve spoken with my clients over the last week and come to an agreement that would allow me to close down my operation within a week.  Currently my reserve (operating wallets) are drained from fulfilling the withdraw spree that happened after the rate drop announcement.  All withdraws at this point will be delayed until Monday when the shutdown process begins.. 

At this point I will no longer accept deposits.  Any coins sent into the system as of now will be returned immediately.

When will I get my coins?
Starting Monday I’ll begin systematically closing and withdrawing accounts as coins are transferred.  I don't expect the entire process to last longer than a week. The moment your account is closed you’ll receive your coins plus any interest accrued up to the hour it was sent.

Thanks
I’d like to thank all of my lenders and PPT operators that were a key element in making Bitcoin Savings & Trust a success.  Bitcoin has grown a lot since I started this and want you to know that you were a vital part in helping it grow.

Now, I have a lot of work to do. Stay Tuned

-pirate

BTW, this is all bitlane’s fault.  (j/k you nut)