Nolo, still here ?
I'm familiar with two cases:
CryptoXChange (
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=126724.0 ) - basically stopped services and severed communication - owners/company are Australian
bASIC (
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=143496.0;topicseen ) - ASIC mining device - project failed, pre-order money taken and not returned, communication stopped In this case, BTCFPGA/Tom is American.
They're similar with the Trendon Shavers case, not a ponzi scheme, but in that a larger group of people are affected, and each is owed a smaller sum (probably not worth hiring a lawyer for). Together the damages are quite large, but people inflicted are from all over the globe, didn't know each other before and have a hard time putting a fight together.
Maybe we can build a 'how-to' for such cases, they seem to pop-up from time to time in the BTC industry, which is still pretty much not regulated.
Basically, from your experience, what should the people do in such a case ? What I'm thinking of ?
1. Which kind of actions are worth taking into consideration ? I'm thinking:
a) laywer/case
b) direct contact (parents ? e. g. Trendon family contact-
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=109126.80 )
c) report to police
d) report to a regulatory institution (Money Laundering, Fair Trade, Finance or something like this)
e) report to secret service
f) debt recovery agency (legal ways) - commission based
2. Which from 1. has the most chance to get your money back ? Or what would be a top 3/5 ?
3. What would be the best first step / second step /third ?
Thanks,
Baboon
Good question. I'll mostly address the bASIC issue, since I know the most about that issue, and the principal place of business is in the U.S. WARNING: What I am describing below is a 30,000 feet overview of the process, and what most commonly happens. Do NOT assume that everything that has to be done is listed below. Seek counsel in your own state.
First, with any type of lawsuit you have a statute of limitations you have to be aware of. With bASIC you are primarily dealing with a breach of contract case. Sure there are some possible tortious fraudulent activity out there, but most judges don't like when you try to confuse a breach of contract case with torts. So let's assume we're suing under a breach of contract theory. Each state is different, so you have to check with your own, but the majority of jurisdictions is 6 years. So no hurry here.
So now we want to file a lawsuit. Where do we do it? Most commonly if you were under $25,000 in pre-orders, your looking at small claims court or what is commonly referred to as "General Sessions" by many states. (It is called something different in many states though.) Some states limit you to $5,000, some states limit you to $15,000. You just have to check with your state, and for that matter each county in a particular state might have a different limit. To file the suit all you have to do is pay the court costs (typically around $150) and file your "complaint". There are countless examples of complaints on the internet, but they typically do not have to be very detailed to be sufficient. You will have to serve him though. You'll have to pay someone in NY to do that for you.
Do you need an attorney? It's up to you, but most of you are probably intelligent enough to meet the basic filing requirements to get into court yourself. Tom almost certainly isn't going to show up to defend his actions. You'll get a default judgment against him. Then you have to take that default judgment to NY and execute it there. I would sue him personally and in the names of bitcoinasic.com and btcfpga.com. Research needs to be done to see if those companies were ever incorporated. But either way, if you sue him personally, and he doesn't defend, you'll get a personal judgment against him. Take it to NY and have it executed. You can file it with NY banks, and they will freeze his funds, and send them to you in the amount of the judgment. Or you can have the sheriff actually show up at his house and start taking his stuff. As far as executing it, no you don't personally have to go to NY to try to collect. There are companies you can hire in NY to actually do that for you. You just have to file the judgment with the NY courts. (They have to comply under the Full Faith & Credit Clause of the Constitution).
And for anyone wondering about suing Tom in federal court, you can't do it. It would have to be in state court. The only way to sue him in federal court, would be if he owed you over $75,000 in refunds and you were from a different state than NY.
Don't call the police, they don't care. This is a civil matter.
Don't harass his family. They didn't screw you over, and worst case, you could get in trouble doing that.
Secret Service doesn't care.
Debt collection will take any case for the right price, but I don't see them getting anywhere in this case. If Tom can ignore all of you, he can ignore their phone calls and letters just as easily.
The only possible people I would report him to would be the US Attorney's Office for NY and the NY Attorney General's Office. They might care enough to do something. But even if they did that will NOT help you get your money back. That will only cause them to prosecute him based on some type of criminal activity. If they win you still get nothing.
(Like I said, I typed this out in 5 minutes. I'm sure I missed something. Don't rely on it. It's just a general overview of what I would do.)
