Mark Karpeles on bail

[Denker]

As you can see here our former muffin has lost quite some weight.
Anybody here who understands japanese and could tell us a bit more about the actual situation or how things are planned to continue in his case?


http://www.news24.jp/articles/2016/07/14/07335370.html

[sniveling]

I found this translation on reddit although I don't know if it's reliable. If it's true I'm surprised they let him out on as little as $100K bail, he might have millions of dollars of embezzled Bitcoins hidden away. He might be happy to pay $100K bail so he can run away and spend his millions outside Japan's legal jurisdiction.

https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/4st1bb/mark_karpeles_out_of_jail_can_anyone_translate/

The video says that after being held in custody for 1 year, he is out on ~ $100K bail. For the bail conditions, he isn't allowed to leave Japan. The prosecutors are accusing him of embezzling ~$3.4M

[franky1]

best diet ever. steal millions of dollars lose 70pounds(lb)

translate

In huge loss incident of virtual currency and Bitcoin, former president of Mt. Gox, Marc Karpeles defendant (31), was released on bail after about 1 year. he has been accused of embezzling more than 300 million yen($3m), in addition to the $ 5 million "padding" their account balance, while operating an illegal operation.

so it seems there are also going after him for what looks to be a form of fractional reserving too (padding)

[mayax]

good for him ! 

people from here wants anonymity, no rules,no laws, they are libertarians.... but they go to authorities if their shit BTC is "stolen" even they used an unlicensed exchanger. i don't understand why they cry when they "asked" for this

grow up, kids, define what you want and then assume it !

 don't blame the govs(police) that is bad and then you run to them whining  if something unpleasant is happening to you

[raphma]

good for him ! 

people from here wants anonymity, no rules,no laws, they are libertarians.... but they go to authorities if their shit BTC is "stolen" even they used an unlicensed exchanger. i don't understand why they cry when they "asked" for this

grow up, kids, define what you want and then assume it !

 don't blame the govs(police) that is bad and then you run to them whining  if something unpleasant is happening to you

finally someone said it!
so much hypocrisy... everyone want easy money (like cloudmining and HYIP's) and they want it in anonymity, but if they are stoled...

[mayax]

good for him ! 

people from here wants anonymity, no rules,no laws, they are libertarians.... but they go to authorities if their shit BTC is "stolen" even they used an unlicensed exchanger. i don't understand why they cry when they "asked" for this

grow up, kids, define what you want and then assume it !

 don't blame the govs(police) that is bad and then you run to them whining  if something unpleasant is happening to you

finally someone said it!
so much hypocrisy... everyone want easy money (like cloudmining and HYIP's) and they want it in anonymity, but if they are stoled...

yes, there is a HUGE hypocrisy, MANY interests, brain washed and kids.

[Junko]

Was he in Japanese prison? Looks like he's been on a diet of rice and fish this whole time. I hope he has hired some good body guards.

[unamis76]

Funny that he has so much money for bailing himself out. He can get some of that money and start repaying his customers. Oh wait... Maybe those are customers funds.

good for him ! 

people from here wants anonymity, no rules,no laws, they are libertarians.... but they go to authorities if their shit BTC is "stolen" even they used an unlicensed exchanger. i don't understand why they cry when they "asked" for this

grow up, kids, define what you want and then assume it !

 don't blame the govs(police) that is bad and then you run to them whining  if something unpleasant is happening to you

I somewhat understand what you're saying, but this isn't the problem here, the problem is much deeper. The issue is how could so many people trust an exchange with so many funds? Especially because of what Bitcoin allows us to do in termos of storing our own money... That's the root of the problem. Fortunately, for the most part, people are starting to educate themselves and aren't leaving this much money in exchanges (although there are more exchanges to spread the money...)

[eternalgloom]

Can't believe that he's out already after committing fraud on such a large scale.
Still seems like yesterday when I first heard the news of him being arrested.

[countryfree]

Funny that he has so much money for bailing himself out. He can get some of that money and start repaying his customers. Oh wait... Maybe those are customers funds.

I'm very surprised too. I thought the guy was broke with all his assets frozen but he still managed to find $100.000. Where does that money come from? I believe he should explain that. Many people also are waiting for an explanation about what happened with their money...

[CoinBreader]

Funny that he has so much money for bailing himself out. He can get some of that money and start repaying his customers. Oh wait... Maybe those are customers funds.

I'm very surprised too. I thought the guy was broke with all his assets frozen but he still managed to find $100.000. Where does that money come from? I believe he should explain that. Many people also are waiting for an explanation about what happened with their money...

Well my guess is expect the 100k for bail he pulled the right strings and bribe the right persons...
But wtf he dont fear for his life ? I mean he dont even know with what type of guys he has messed with...no wonder if he end up missing (the bad way)

[gmaxwell]

Hold your pitchforks on that point.

In the US at least, most people don't usually pay their own bail. You use a bail bondsman who loans you money for the bail and, presumably, comes and breaks your kneecaps if you don't make payments on the loan or skip down on your bail. They'll sometimes take the title on some property of yours to secure the loan.

I assume the situation is no different in Japan.

[GreenBits]

Hold your pitchforks on that point.

In the US at least, most people don't usually pay their own bail. You use a bail bondsman who loans you money for the bail and, presumably, comes and breaks your kneecaps if you don't make payments on the loan or skip down on your bail. They'll sometimes take the title on some property of yours to secure the loan.

I assume the situation is no different in Japan.

Amen. The guy wasn't broke before all of this. In the States you only need ten percent of the bail amount for a property bond, I don't think it would have been that hard to scrape that together, especially since I'm pretty sure he's sitting on millions of user funds.

[mixan]

He looks like they worked him hard in jail to get rid of that gut and fat face of his. If you didn't say that was him I wouldn't have recognized him in a crowd. I think that is why he lost all that weight or they didn't have doughnuts and slushies in the big house. 

[Valzador]

Doctors hate this method!

Watch how you can change your life in less than 1 Year!

/s

[tobacco123]

He looks like they worked him hard in jail to get rid of that gut and fat face of his. If you didn't say that was him I wouldn't have recognized him in a crowd. I think that is why he lost all that weight or they didn't have doughnuts and slushies in the big house. 

I guess he is also happy that many people can't recognize him anymore. He can just further undergo some slight cosmetic surgeries, change a name and happily spending the huge fortune ever after! I think he must have used some brainwallets to keep all the coins!

[Denker]

Hold your pitchforks on that point.

In the US at least, most people don't usually pay their own bail. You use a bail bondsman who loans you money for the bail and, presumably, comes and breaks your kneecaps if you don't make payments on the loan or skip down on your bail. They'll sometimes take the title on some property of yours to secure the loan.

I assume the situation is no different in Japan.

You are right Greg.
Or another theory could be that Mark made some "friendship" with some high ranked member of Yamaguchi-gumi or Inagawa-kai who helped him out, for now.
Wouldn't surprise me if he tried almost anything to get out of prison as I assume him having a weak kind of personality who couldn't handle that situation any longer.

[Kakmakr]

The rice diet did wonders to his weight problem, so I guess he is on the winning side for that too. Do they have a court date for the other cases? I cannot figure how you are responsible for the loss of millions of dollars and you get away with 1 year. ^hmmmm^

Let's hope some of these people get some retribution and answers for what really happened there.

[7788bitcoin]

Plot twist: Maybe the Japanese government will hire him as a consultant to fight cryptocurrency crime? Remember the movie "Catch me if you can?" He is the best person who knows everything about how these crimes work!

[raphma]

Hold your pitchforks on that point.

In the US at least, most people don't usually pay their own bail. You use a bail bondsman who loans you money for the bail and, presumably, comes and breaks your kneecaps if you don't make payments on the loan or skip down on your bail. They'll sometimes take the title on some property of yours to secure the loan.

I assume the situation is no different in Japan.

You are right Greg.
Or another theory could be that Mark made some "friendship" with some high ranked member of Yamaguchi-gumi or Inagawa-kai who helped him out, for now.
Wouldn't surprise me if he tried almost anything to get out of prison as I assume him having a weak kind of personality who couldn't handle that situation any longer.

and why would he?
i'm pretty sure he still is rich...

[QuestionAuthority]

Hold your pitchforks on that point.

In the US at least, most people don't usually pay their own bail. You use a bail bondsman who loans you money for the bail and, presumably, comes and breaks your kneecaps if you don't make payments on the loan or skip down on your bail. They'll sometimes take the title on some property of yours to secure the loan.

I assume the situation is no different in Japan.

Wrong, there are no bail bondsmen in Japan. At least there weren't when I was stationed there. My wife's (married her while stationed at kadena okinawa) brother was arrested. The application he had his attorney submit to apply for bail cost $3,000 back then. It's probably $5,000 today. He also needed to pay the bail in full before he was released. Karpeles not only has a shitload of money at his disposal but must have someone he trusts on the outside helping him.

[Bitcoin_Mafia_Me]

I'll admit...the skeptic in me immediately thought "OK whose palms did he grease to get out of jail so quickly?"
which was immediately followed by "I wonder what scam he'll start up next?"

[pereira4]

There are people on Reddit wanting to do an AMA with him. His Reddit username is "magicaltux". Maybe if enough people demand it, we can do an AMA and listen to his own version of how things went.

[yayayo]

I didn't expect to see Karpeles released that soon. However since it's just a release on bail, he might soon be under custody again. It would be interesting to know when his trial will take place and what sentence can be expected. If I had to guess, I'd interpret his release on bail as an indication that the expected time of imprisonment will be limited to less than 5 years. 

Judging by his looks, at least his recent time of imprisonment has not been a relaxing experience...

ya.ya.yo!

[155UE]

Plot twist: Maybe the Japanese government will hire him as a consultant to fight cryptocurrency crime? Remember the movie "Catch me if you can?" He is the best person who knows everything about how these crimes work!

More like the movie "Now you see me.."  they robbed banks in that movie and got away with it in the end without any reprecussions whatsoever. The sorry of his life .. I guess 

[Kprawn]

There are people on Reddit wanting to do an AMA with him. His Reddit username is "magicaltux". Maybe if enough people demand it, we can do an AMA and listen to his own version of how things went.

Most of the questions and comments will be negative and insulting, if you look at the anger out there towards him. It would also not be a good thing for him to comment on things that needs to be

answered in a court of law. His legal representation would advise against that, until the final verdict was given on his case. I too want to hear his part of the story, but I think we are going to have to

wait a couple of years for that. 

[QuestionAuthority]

There are people on Reddit wanting to do an AMA with him. His Reddit username is "magicaltux". Maybe if enough people demand it, we can do an AMA and listen to his own version of how things went.

Most of the questions and comments will be negative and insulting, if you look at the anger out there towards him. It would also not be a good thing for him to comment on things that needs to be

answered in a court of law. His legal representation would advise against that, until the final verdict was given on his case. I too want to hear his part of the story, but I think we are going to have to

wait a couple of years for that. 

I don't expect he will be in Japan long enough to ever get a final verdict. If he doesn't immediately get on a boat and leave Japan then he's a bigger idiot than everyone thinks he is.

[Velkro]

Was he in Japanese prison? Looks like he's been on a diet of rice and fish this whole time. I hope he has hired some good body guards.

Its hard to admit after what he done, but he is looking really good . Prison serve's him well :|. No frapuccino and candy's doin its job

[iGotSpots]

He kinda looks like Seth Rogan now

Guess we found the lead for the movie

[countryfree]

Hold your pitchforks on that point.

In the US at least, most people don't usually pay their own bail. You use a bail bondsman who loans you money for the bail and, presumably, comes and breaks your kneecaps if you don't make payments on the loan or skip down on your bail. They'll sometimes take the title on some property of yours to secure the loan.

I assume the situation is no different in Japan.

Wrong, there are no bail bondsmen in Japan. At least there weren't when I was stationed there. My wife's (married her while stationed at kadena okinawa) brother was arrested. The application he had his attorney submit to apply for bail cost $3,000 back then. It's probably $5,000 today. He also needed to pay the bail in full before he was released. Karpeles not only has a shitload of money at his disposal but must have someone he trusts on the outside helping him.

Thanks for info. The US system is very unusual. There's nothing similar in Europe or Africa. And I guess that even in America, where a loan is possible, it would take a very substantial collateral to get $100K. So the man's far from broke!

[155UE]

He looks like they worked him hard in jail to get rid of that gut and fat face of his. If you didn't say that was him I wouldn't have recognized him in a crowd. I think that is why he lost all that weight or they didn't have doughnuts and slushies in the big house. 

I guess he is also happy that many people can't recognize him anymore. He can just further undergo some slight cosmetic surgeries, change a name and happily spending the huge fortune ever after! I think he must have used some brainwallets to keep all the coins!

Why don't you ask him yourself 

He is on the forum:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=360819

He can't change his name on here 
Because no mater how many cosmetic surgeries you have - on this forum you are always going to be the same. 

[aso118]

He is unrecognizable.
If it weren't for the news reports, I wouldn't have been convinced that the man in the pictures is Mark Karpeles. 

[pawel7777]

MK is back on Twitter

https://twitter.com/magicaltux/status/754216485740875776

@TECHNSAVE No idea of even what the current price is, nor do I really care for now. Did you guys even work out that block size thing?

LOLed

[countryfree]

MK is back on Twitter

https://twitter.com/magicaltux/status/754216485740875776

@TECHNSAVE No idea of even what the current price is, nor do I really care for now. Did you guys even work out that block size thing?

LOLed

Well, so we know he wasn't getting the news when in jail, but it shows how bad the community has been. The block size issue which was making the news more than one year ago still hasn't been solved. I guess M.Karpeles is very disappointed. Like we all.

[Carlton Banks]

If anyone is surprised about any of the news, why didn't Mt. Gox's existence surprise you in the first place? All thought concerning Bitcoin exchanges should be accompanied by the following question: how is this thing still open for business? (with probably different answers, depending on the exchange)

I once naively believed that the Japanese political establishment must be helping Mt Gox and/or Karpeles, and it was certainly pretty obvious in the implosion aftermath that someone at Gox with help from friends in the Japanese banking system had disappeared the paper trails for huge sums of money. And with the gradual emergence of Roger Ver as an anti-Bitcoin shill, the picture becomes much clearer (after Roger lent his voice to Gox to keep the ponzi going a little longer).

[jonald_fyookball]

Hold your pitchforks on that point.

In the US at least, most people don't usually pay their own bail. You use a bail bondsman who loans you money for the bail and, presumably, comes and breaks your kneecaps if you don't make payments on the loan or skip down on your bail. They'll sometimes take the title on some property of yours to secure the loan.

I assume the situation is no different in Japan.

Wrong, there are no bail bondsmen in Japan. At least there weren't when I was stationed there. My wife's (married her while stationed at kadena okinawa) brother was arrested. The application he had his attorney submit to apply for bail cost $3,000 back then. It's probably $5,000 today. He also needed to pay the bail in full before he was released. Karpeles not only has a shitload of money at his disposal but must have someone he trusts on the outside helping him.

Thanks for info. The US system is very unusual. There's nothing similar in Europe or Africa. And I guess that even in America, where a loan is possible, it would take a very substantial collateral to get $100K. So the man's far from broke!

of course he's not broke!  He was living in a luxury high rise prior to his arrest.

And probably has millions in stolen bitcoins.  I'm not buying his 'i was hacked' story for 2 seconds.

[mayax]

good for him. why do you complain when you want "anonymity" and other libertarian's shits?

"cry" on your pillow and don't whine on forums, this is my message to all those who are using unlicensed exchangers and to those who are saying that a gov is bad and so on. yes, it's bad but why do you make complaints(when your BTC is stolen) if the  police, FBI ("govs", including police) is so bad?

you should choose. either you are a man with dignity, you know what you do and if you make a mistake, you will go on further without whining; either you are libertarian pussy (hypocritical) who comes on forums to say:

 "i used an unlicensed exchanger and this one stole my BTC. I want the police to find the thief and to give my money back" (even your usual rhetoric is:  "gov is a shit, police is bad, fuck them)  


P.S there is a 3 rd case: "you" are a really idiot, brain washed and you will always be a "victim" , so the words are useless.I forgot there are many of these who are populating the forums

[European Central Bank]

There are people on Reddit wanting to do an AMA with him. His Reddit username is "magicaltux". Maybe if enough people demand it, we can do an AMA and listen to his own version of how things went.

is there a legal system anywhere that would allow that before a trial? i seriously doubt it. i wonder if and when we'll ever get a genuine blow by blow account of what went wrong.

our friend mark don't seem like the type of person to put us out of our misery.

[Wendigo]

Wait did Karpeles pay that $100 000 bail with money out of his pocket? But if he has a bank account in Japan why hasn't the government seized the funds in there already? I think he should have been stripped of all possessions in Japan in order to cover the missing funds that he has embezzled through Mt. Gox. Does anyone know if he paid that bail himself or someone else did on his behalf?