Will Gox CEO get off scott free?

[bitcoinsrus]

Will Gox CEO get off scott free?  I personally think yes.  Bitcoin is new and there was no insurance or any agreement like this.  It was based on trust and thats what trust gets.
Thoughts appreciated?

[1714979803]

1714979803

[1714979803]

1714979803

[BitCoinsLOL]

I voted he'll be prosecuted I'm of the belief Gox was still accepting deposits and trading when they knew the Coins were already gone. This situation is disgraceful so many people have been effected.

[MrPiggles]

Most people voting for "he'll be persecuted", not sure if they mean it or want to say "prosecuted"?

I suspect he has enough money to pay for private security.

A lot of people want a lot of rich people dead, thats what bodyguards are for.

Couple million a year and he'll be as hard to get at as a Sheikh or Abramovich.

I suspect he'll need to delete his twitter/IRC though

[Cluster2k]

There are some interesting issues at play here.  PirateAt40's ponzi court case has not finished afaik, but a court in the USA ruled that bitcoins do have value (defendant was claiming they were worthless internet LOL coins).  If a Japanese court sees things the same way it could cause trouble for MtGox's management.  

A separate issue is trading while insolvent: regardless of whether MtGox was trading bitcoins, stamps, or cat turds, MtGox was still trading and taking new deposits when it was pretty clear that management knew the company was insolvent.  This is a crime pretty much everywhere.  The challenge for prosecutors will be showing the company was insolvent and tracking all the bitcoins and money.  The law is against the CEO but he has complexity and novelty on his side: bitcoin may be complex and difficult enough to grasp for some aging judge that the whole thing slips through.

Either way, the CEO is going to fry.  Either 750k+ bitcoins were stolen on his watch over a period of years (his words), which means negligence of criminal magnitude, or he has to show where the bitcoins went if they weren't stolen.  He's screwed.

[chopstick]

He is under a gag order from US Gov. There is more going on here than meets the eye. Tinfoil hat time.

[Wilhelm]

Losing so much money is bound to piss a bad-ass off.
Some russian drug lord has probably lost enough on Gox to put a hit out on him.

Therefore I believe he will meet his maker when investors find him... (hope for him I'm wrong)

[KC82]

If the US government was involved then he will be granted immunity. If not he will spend years in jail.