Great place to start!
We need some more names behind any approach.
Please, Bakewell shareholders, and any others in the community with an interest in deterring this and future scamming,
NOW is the time to make yourselves heard. Express your support for approaching Avalon here and now.
Or come up with any other suggestions.
The Usagi plan:
1. Immediately, we need to appoint an interim director of BAKEWELL. Everyone propose someone or someone volunteer. We then run a shareholder motion.
2. With the authorization of the shareholder motion, this person can contact Avalon and have BAKEWELL's orders rerouted.
3. The BAKEWELL problem is solved for the short and medium term.
For people who were ripped off via loan/etc:
1. Contact an Edmonton lawyer and state you need representation for small claims court.
2. Mention amounts in dollars only -- although bitcoin is a currency deal with it as the way you transferred the money to Ian, not the central theme of the case.
3. Don't forget that he bought hardware in dollars with the money you sent him. This isn't a fantasy monopoly money case. Tell them he took the hardware and disappeared.
4. Also try contacting an Edmonton-based PI. You can probably get them to find out where Ian is for as little as a bitcoin at today's rates. Just say you want them to confirm his location and you want "a picture". That should run you a bitcoin if you can provide his info (posted here) and you will be able to get a lot more info on him like where he works, friends and associates -- information which will be valuable in any (legal) social campaign to recover the money. Make sure you share the info here and on the scam accusation forum so the information is available to any employment or background check search for Ian or any of his associates.
Now, if anyone is serious about going after him, you should work together. Designate a leader for your group who will act on your behalf, and actually put up a little money for this. Say if you get 10 people, each put up a bitcoin or two. You will certainly get somewhere with a well-run organization like that. I've considered forming some kind of group or company like a bounty hunter company to go after people like Ian. HashKing is another one that needs to be chased after legally. But it will never happen unless people start organizing and realizing that it does cost money to hire a lawyer. Don't be afraid to do this. If the case is clear cut, and there are witnesses, you are almost assured a judgement esp. in canadian small claims court. And I strongly suspect that dragging someone into the public eye like this (the story WILL get picked up by the press) will probably be enough to get someone to pay.
FWIW Ian only owes me a very small amount of money, probably not enough for me to get involved. I am just saying this and trying to help out because I think he deserves to get hog-tied and repeatedly bitch-slapped.
But if no one does anything with the police or an Edmonton lawyer he will probably get away with it.We especially need someone local to Ian to represent and run this. It would be
so much easier if a Canadian, especially someone from Alberta or Edmonton, could step up and guide us through this.