Topic: [GOX] Crime Scene Investigation, Case #MG744 - page 3. (Read 47025 times)

That depends if you are more interested in getting your bitcoins or having a pound of flesh.

Note:  the legal implication of this is reflected in a theory called "deepening insolvency."  This is that the knowing continued operation of an insolvent business operation itself creates a cause of action and this cause of action can be against the PRINCIPALS.  Basically, in this case, that would be anyone in sight with money in their pockets. 

This is the kind of cause of action that can pierce the corporate veil, or even directly go after directors and CEOs, possibly without even doing that first. 

Corporate lawyers will find this kind of cause of action very cutting edge and juicy.  Unfortunately, I'd also imagine they'd consume a lot of billable hours pursuing this very nifty, fun, edgy cause of action.

I now regret that I hate corporate law.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9246921/Mt._Gox_kept_exchange_open_despite_knowledge_of_large_scale_theft?taxonomyId=144&pageNumber=1



Mt. Gox kept exchange open despite knowledge of large-scale theft
Exchange continued to operate and collect transaction fees despite its troubles, U.S. bankruptcy filing suggests

By Jeremy Kirk
March 12, 2014 08:53 PM ET
6 CommentsinShare2
IDG News Service - Mt. Gox may have collected a large sum in trading fees in the weeks before its closure, even though it was already aware that a vast number of bitcoins had gone missing, its U.S. bankruptcy filing suggests.

A sworn declaration in the filing from Robert Marie Mark Karpeles, Mt. Gox 's CEO, reveals that the Bitcoin exchange knew in early February that its situation was far graver than it had disclosed at the time.

Mt. Gox halted bitcoin withdrawals from its exchange on Feb. 7. It told customers it was investigating possible fraud due to a security issue called transaction malleability, but did not specify at the time how many bitcoins were missing. Buying and selling on the exchange continued until Feb. 25, when its website went dark.

Mt. Gox's first disclosure of the scale of its problems came when it filed for bankruptcy protection in Tokyo District Court three days later, saying 750,000 of its customers' bitcoins were missing, along with 100,000 of its own.

It appears from the U.S. bankruptcy filing that Mt. Gox executives knew the gravity of the company's losses up to 19 days before its public disclosure, but gave traders no reason at the time to believe the exchange might not be solvent.

In the filing, Karpeles states that the withdrawals were halted Feb. 7 due to "the theft or disappearance of hundreds of thousands of bitcoins owned by Mt. Gox customers as well as Mt. Gox itself."

Why Mt. Gox continued to operate the exchange with that knowledge is unclear.

Karpeles did not respond to a request for comment for this article sent to his personal email address.

The impact of Mt. Gox allowing customers to buy and sell bitcoins it suspected it did not have may be revealed by class-action lawsuits, one of which was filed in Chicago on Feb. 27, and another of which is planned in the U.K.

"They took trading fees on assets which didn't exist and accepted deposits when they knew they were insolvent," Aaron G., a Bitcoin investor who did not want his last name used, said via email.A

"The origin of the losses may or may not be incompetence," added Aaron, who has filed a fraud complaint against Mt. Gox with Tokyo police. "But they knew for at least two weeks and kept operating as normal."

After Feb. 7, Mt. Gox was still processing thousands of trades a day, according to Bitcoincharts.com, which records trading volumes for many Bitcoin markets.

 

An average of 49,912 bitcoins were traded daily on Mt. Gox between Feb. 7 and Feb. 25, at an average weighted price of $380.54 per bitcoin.

Click ''top 5000 traders''. On top there is BTC 581k. This probably is Miss Whale - this cannot be verified as trades for this person(s) were not listed.

Great, thanks, I will post the info from the link so that all could read it, also to have it before it disappears or changes.

"In the wake of Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox announcing that it lost $473 million worth of the virtual currency, many people who saw their money disappear have called for CEO Mark Karpeles to be imprisoned. Well, funny thing: it wouldn't necessarily be the first time Karpeles has been arrested for fraud.

As pointed out to Gawker by a tipster who wishes to remain anonymous, Karpeles seems to discuss a past arrest concerning "payment systems on the internet" in a 2006 post on his blog Magical Tux. The post, like all on the blog Karpeles links to in his Twitter bio, is in French, but the tipster translated the relevant section on his personal Tumblr:

Indeed, during my misspent youth, I made a huge, huge mistake. Enough silliness that I found myself locked into custody and brought temporarily placed in the "mousetrap" (souricière: possibly "n.f. (pol.): 'Baited trap' laid by the forces of law-and-order."). This was followed by an investigation of more than a year, which eventually ended in a trial.

I will not give too much detail about what I did wrong, just say it concerns payment systems on the Internet. I spent two years taking risks becoming larger, perhaps because it was an exciting side … whatever, I ended up getting arrested (in rather bizarre circumstances, noting that when I was arrested, I was just in a police station to file a complaint for something else). Anyway, I was released four days later and placed under "judicial review". Basically I did not have the right to leave France and I had to go regularly to the courthouse to speak to someone who was going to see if I lived in "the right way".

...

In the end, the trial was not concluded too bad for me (3 months suspended sentence disappearing after 5 years, and nothing in the criminal record).
A Google translate for the blog post returns the same story, albeit in less smooth English.

According to Karpeles' blog post, the fallout from this "huge, huge mistake" is why he eventually migrated to Japan, where he now lives. There is almost no evidence of Karpeles' possible past arrest on the internet, perhaps because, as the blog post claims, his sentence would have been wiped from records somewhere around two years ago.

But a recent story in the French paper Le Journal de Sâone et Loire, that includes quotes from Karpeles' mother Anne, says that after starting an IT company in Paris, Karpeles left the city after being caught committing "computer fraud." This small tidbit was noticed by Reddit's Bitcoin forum, but has not yet trickled up to the media until now.

If Karpeles does have a history of committing fraud, it doesn't necessarily mean that he did anything wrong legally or morally with Mt. Gox's Bitcoins. But it probably won't make the people out $473 million sleep any easier.

The Bitcoin community will surely learn a number of lessons from the Mt. Gox disaster, and here is a simple one: when investing in Bitcoin, make sure the guy you're trusting with your money doesn't have a secret past committing fraud. Even if that means finding someone who knows French."


Here is additional relevant and related back-story:
http://www.lejsl.com/saone-et-loire/2014/03/01/un-qi-superieur-a-la-moyenne  [the translation is pretty bad]

Before talking to him in the world Mark Karpeles grew up in Dijon. His mother tells the journey of this computer genius.

The man who is now the most hated Internet has boiled teenager. A chubby face "geek" who scares anyone. And yet, this young 28 year old man born in Chenôve is now the target of all fantasies on the internet. Friday, after disappearing for three days, Mark Karpeles admitted to losing the $ 480 million that were stored in virtual currency on its site, MtGox. More than one million users have lost small fortunes in history.

A higher IQ than the average

If apologized, Mark Karpeles still remains in the sights of Japanese and U.S. authorities. The disappearance of that could be fraudulent. Nothing to worry his mother, contacted Friday and an impressive calm on the phone. "I know that Mark will do what it takes. If it is hidden for three days, it's just to gain strength and confront what awaits "says the Dijon now based in Switzerland. "And if he was really worried he would have called me. "

If Anne Karpeles talks about his son as if nothing had happened "for two minutes" that have lasted 15, the scandal generated by Mark resounding. However, the course of Mark Karpeles is nothing that a highwayman able to disappear in a few days, as he did Monday. Born in Chenôve in 1985, Mark Karpeles lived his early years in Côte-d'Or, with his mother, a geologist. He attended school Chevreul, lives in the city center of Dijon and already passionate about IT. "I think we did our first program together, Dijon, when he was 10 years old. "

Because the boy is early. An IQ test diagnostic her intelligence above average. "But there was no effort at school," laughs his mother, not stressed by the ordeals by his son. "I made him do the cooking, sewing, sport, but he mostly hung with computers. "At the point of becoming a genius, even if Anne Karpeles not pronounce the word. "Admittedly, it is not bad in the kitchen either. By cons, it can barely sew on a button (laughs). "A computer genius who, baccalaureate - got to Paris, where his mother had moved - begins in an IT company in Paris. He left the capital a little faster, accused, according to our information, computer fraud. He moved to Japan, where he bought in 2011 MtGox. It is the platform number 1 of Bitcoin. Until February 7, when the first bug, the site managed 80% of global Bitcoin transactions. Suffice to say it was worth a fortune. Today, Mark Karpeles, is accused by the Internet community to be incompetent - at best - or a crook. Nothing to worry his mother who, unlike his son, a young dad, kept ties in Côte-d'Or. "The last time I went to visit him in Japan, its website had been attacked. He solved the problem overnight, "says Anne Karpeles. "I'm sure it will still succeed this time. "Before starting, a knowing smile, a lapidary:" And $ 480 million is what we see when playing with what states and financiers. "

For the background, see the little guy Chenôve now married to a Japanese attacked on all sides, Anne Karpeles expected. "The computer world is hard. And when we know how the Bitcoin angry central banks, governments, one can understand that my son disturbed. "At the point of today find themselves propelled to the front of the stage. Not bad for the former shy child the Rue Neuve-Bergère de Dijon."

http://gawker.com/does-mt-goxs-ceo-have-a-secret-history-of-online-payme-1534752110

Some interesting data:

http://mark-karpeles.com/m.php or mirror http://lookup.mtgoxleaks.org/m.php

Data from recent and old 2011 leaks merged together

Fun fact:

If you browse to 19vLTw3JM1zxcRbreyKkGuR8qejbj2dV59 on blockchain, you can read a gib fat warning on top of the page

That is very interesting on multiple fronts.  Could you elaborate further, perhaps indicate the charge, story, accusation, include dates, amounts, etc ...

thanks

Anyone can verify the bankruptcy protection laws in USA and Japan?

In many parts of the world the owner of the company can't have a criminal past to apply for brakrupt protection. It seems Mark has a charge for fraud in France.

The same should be done in Japan + Mark Karpeles arrested.

every little bit counts, whatever you can do, in whatever capacity, some are looking at this or that, some are taking to him, her, or them, just the analysis of info is also a contribution.






Here is some good news for ya:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/11/us-bitcoin-karpeles-idUSBREA2A1VM20140311?feedType=RSS


(Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday temporarily froze the U.S. assets of Mt. Gox chief Mark Karpeles and allowed alleged victims of the shuttered bitcoin exchange to demand evidence of what they claim is a massive fraud.

The market for the digital currency was rocked last month when Mt. Gox, once the world's largest bitcoin exchange, ceased operations, and soon after filed for bankruptcy. Mt. Gox said it may have lost 750,000 bitcoins, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, in a hacking attack.

The freeze on Karpeles' assets, issued by Judge Gary Feinerman in Chicago, also applies to Mt. Gox's U.S. affiliate and the Japanese parent company, Tibanne, according to Christopher Dore, an Edelson attorney who represents U.S. customers of the bitcoin exchange.

The judge's order did not apply to the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox KK, which was shielded from litigation after it filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan and the United States.

Mt. Gox suspended withdrawals on February 7, leaving customers unable to recover their funds.

In a bankruptcy hearing on Monday, parties suing Mt. Gox said there are growing concerns that Karpeles moved millions of dollars of bitcoins in recent days based on information gleaned from the Internet.

Dore represents Gregory Greene, an Illinois resident, who brought a proposed class action over what he claims is a massive fraud. Mt. Gox blamed the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoins on a flaw in the software algorithm that underlies the digital currency.

"The main thing we hope to achieve is to finally see what the web of things that Karpeles has put together over the last few years and to start unwinding it as to where things are and what happened," said Dore.

Bitcoin is bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network independent of central control. Its value soared last year, and the total worth of bitcoins minted is now about $7 billion.

Investors were warned on Tuesday that the lure of a quick profit trading the volatile currency should not blind them to bitcoin's risk of theft, fraud and significant losses, according to an alert by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Dore said the judge's order freezing Karpeles' assets will expire in 14 days, when the parties return to court to decide if it should be extended.

John Murphy, a Baker McKenzie attorney for Mt. Gox KK, the bankrupt company, declined to comment. Dore said the U.S. affiliate, Karpeles and Tibanne were not represented at the hearing.

The case is Gregory Greene v Mt. Gox Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, No. 14-01437

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; editing by Andrew Hay)

Lol I have been trying to buy some mining hardware. Honestly have you been over there? Its like every company is manned by and army of cloned Marks its horrible.

I have been dropping in and out of threads and keeping any eye on some wallet movements, posting what they are doing but honestly feel a bit out of my depth. I'm still learning the basics of block-chain forensics.  In short seems like where ever you look if it had been near gox its just splitting all over the place into fresh wallets stopping then splitting again into more fresh wallets.

Also been looking into lawyers etc but what I think is really important for all of us right now while we can do nothing but watch the chain is finding ways to protect ourselves from Identity theft.

Lets face it gox is a mess and somewhere 0.5 mil of us have KYC docs and if mark cant set up cold storage for btc what kind of protection did he have in place for our docs?

Also trying to find a bridge to the right department out in Japan. I mean our boys here are great in number and picking apart any info they can get their hands on.. how do we get this data to them?  As yet not heard of anyone that's got a bridge up...anyone know of one ?

hahahahaa  ...


dude, where have you been?  I thought for sure you would be one of the main investigators

You'd have to be completely retarded to run a "business" the way Gox was run even given their own story.  It's well established that Karpeles is completely retarded.  So the issue here isn't whether Mark Karpeles is the biggest fucking idiot in the history of fucking and of idiots, but whether he's also a crook.

Having read the entire thread and many other on this subject I have come to a single and irrefutable conclusion and that is I now want to eat some fruitcake.

If I had 200 000 BTC I wouldn't steal. Did Karpeles have 200 000 BTC?



My story is a fruitcake-type of conspiracy story. You would need to be retarded to believe it. The story was created simply by switching one parameter from true to false. You can create a number of such stories simply by switching values of certain parameters. You can easily come up with a fruitcake-type of story that the pope is satosi nakamoto himself.

But you would also need be retarded to believe MtGox story and the story told by other guys who support their stories by evidence either produced by themselves or released by themselves or released by their friends.

That's why Karpeles should be questioned by the criminal police.



I know nothing about it.

If you had 200 000 BTC on your own and had a successful growing business that makes around 50 000 BTC a year, why would you bother stealing 650 000 BTC from your own customers?
Is that really worth being hated by hundreds of thousands of creditors, pursued by many juridictions and probably chased down by some very angry customers? Don't think so.

This is why this theory isn't plausible, you'd have to be completely retarded to make such a heist.

Hahahaha, this at least has been proven several times 

However, with the recent new making such big rounds, it would be pretty unlikely but also frustrating, if no further revelations would follow.
At this point we can at least already say, that Mt.Gox was lying several times, as you already pointed out.

May I ask you a different question?
Have there been any news about the report of "cold wallets" after the DB-leak was published?
I mean, it is still unclear and maybe already forgotten, how    purportedly all bitcoins could simply "disappear" (as MtGox state that day) with the most of them laying on cold wallets... Are there any news, which I maybe missed at some point?