Altcoin News: Bitfinex Asks to Bring to Court a Witness Who Can Help Restore Its $880 Million
October 21, 2019, by Marko Vidrih on ALTCOIN MAGAZINE
The Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange asks the court to subpoena a former manager of the trust company, which, they suggest, can help restore over $850 million of its funds.
On October 18, the exchange filed a lawsuit with a California court for obtaining the permission to take the deposition testimony of former TCA Bancorp Vice President Rondell “Rhon” Clyde Monroe. They also wish to receive documents related to Monroe’s contacts with Crypto Capital employees.
According to the Bitfinex version, Crypto Capital “has used one or more accounts held at TCA Bancorp to facilitate the transfer of funds” belonging to itself, and Monroe has documents and information that are key to the return of more than $850 million.
The exchange issued its statement in the framework of the current proceedings aimed at restoring $880 million held in the accounts of the processing service Crypto Capital, which, as it is supposed, were frozen by several government agencies.
Bitfinex, in turn, was the subject of an investigation by the New York City Prosecutor’s Office for allegedly concealing the loss of funds using a loan provided by sister company Tether, which was not notified to customers.
The exchange claims that its cooperation with Crypto Capital did not cause difficulties until April last year when news appeared that Crypto Capital assets had been seized by the authorities in Poland on suspicion of money laundering. In August of that year, Crypto Capital allegedly informed Bitfinex that about $500 million of its funds in Poland and Portugal were held by regulators.
In response to a request for additional information, Crypto Capital passed a letter signed by Monroe from TCA Bancorp, the exchange said. It stated that TCA holds slightly more than $300 million in Bitfinex funds for the benefit of a Global Trade Solutions AG (GTS) client operating under the name Crypto Capital.
Thus, Bitfinex asks to bring Monroe to court to testify under oath, as well as request documents with details of correspondence with Crypto Capital manager Ozzie Yosef, Yosef’s sister Ravid Yosef, GTS sole shareholder Reginald Dennis Fowler as well as Fowler’s son Trent Dennis Fowler, whom , registered at least one account used to receive deposits from Bitfinex customers. It is noteworthy that Reginald Fowler and Ravid Yosef were previously accused by the US Department of Justice of bank fraud in connection with the system of making deposits on cryptocurrency exchanges.
Author: Marko Vidrih
