MPEx owner in danger of being extradited to US to face charges

[minerpart]

When they come to take him into custody I predict latex gloves all round - would you want to touch the bare skin of such a creature? Don't know what but you would definately catch something. Urgh

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[Luttinen]

When they come to take him into custody I predict latex gloves all round - would you want to touch the bare skin of such a creature? Don't know what but you would definately catch something. Urgh

Honestly won't surprise me one bit guy actually wants to get arrested, being the media craving attention honey that he is.

This will be one one fun trial to watch.

Answer is yes, to answer previous popcorn question. You can and most likely will drown on popcorn watching this upcoming trial circus unfold.  

[Luttinen]

Looks like guy is talking from podium in this video http://vimeo.com/11567870

Very likely we'll see roles reversed pretty soon.

[Stuartuk]

Looks like guy is talking from podium in this video http://vimeo.com/11567870

Very likely we'll see roles reversed pretty soon.

Excellent find - yes it's him at some seminar at his local college. Seems to be there to talk about 'Practical Political Theory'. I'm guessing he is a post-grad and is doing some part-time lecturing. Not a difficult job to get I've seen some really crappy part-time lecturers at colleges and Uni.


This one is him too and it's hilarious. One man is not so impressed with what Popescu is saying at this meeting and spends 4mins shouting at him. It sounds like he is telling him he's talking shit! Looks like some sort of local residents meeting where he has been given a slot to talk at.
http://vimeo.com/7125141

The highlights are at 1:15 when after just one minute of talking Popescu stops pacing up and down like Mussolini, totally forgets what he is saying, looks down at his notes, uncomfortable silence, flicks through notes (!) then the guy at the back takes over and tells him he's a dick. Popescu looks up like a startled fairy!

The other highlight is 4:30 - listen to the tone of Popescu's voice! He keeps getting higher and higher until he finally sounds like a gnome on helium!


This is comedy gold. What a twat of a man Popescu is - a Smurf of a man. And total respect to the old dude who has been round long enough to call out Bullshit when he sees it even at a public meeting.

[Luttinen]

Looks like guy is talking from podium in this video http://vimeo.com/11567870

Very likely we'll see roles reversed pretty soon.

Excellent find - yes it's him at some seminar at his local college. Seems to be there to talk about 'Practical Political Theory'. I'm guessing he is a post-grad and is doing some part-time lecturing. Not a difficult job to get I've seen some really crappy part-time lecturers at colleges and Uni.


This one is him too and it's hilarious. One man is not so impressed with what Popescu is saying at this meeting and spends 4mins shouting at him. It sounds like he is telling him he's talking shit! Looks like some sort of local residents meeting where he has been given a slot to talk at.
http://vimeo.com/7125141

The highlights are at 1:15 when after just one minute of talking Popescu stops pacing up and down like Mussolini, totally forgets what he is saying, looks down at his notes, uncomfortable silence, flicks through notes (!) then the guy at the back takes over and tells him he's a dick. Popescu looks up like a startled fairy!

The other highlight is 4:30 - listen to the tone of Popescu's voice! He keeps getting higher and higher until he finally sounds like a gnome on helium!


This is comedy gold. What a twat of a man Popescu is - a Smurf of a man. And total respect to the old dude who has been round long enough to call out Bullshit when he sees it even at a public meeting.

Piece of resistance hasn't been released yet. It will be him sitting on the opposite side of the podium at his trial, throwing insane drivel & nonsense at the judge.

Not enough popcorn in the world for such display of idiocracy.

[Stuartuk]

It will be him sitting on the opposite side of the podium at his trial, throwing insane drivel & nonsense at the judge.

Not enough popcorn in the world for such display of idiocracy.

You are so right! He would undoubtedly act as his own defence lawyer (he is so sure of his own abilities and all the ego-maniacs do that) and would have a huge folder of papers and supporting evidence that proves he is right and that the SEC and FBI are completely wrong.

I don't doubt it would be a highly entertaining trial too, and also that he would go down screaming about his innocence - something along the lines of 'HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME!' 'I'VE BROKEN NO LAWS' as he is dragged to the cells. And he will believe he is innocent too. Such an arrogant self-satisfied individual.

The fact he had/has ambitions to get into Politics is quite a scary thought. Thankfully he has none of the charisma or public appeal that would ever give him a chance of gaining popular support at any level - look at how he ignites outrage after just a minute of talking and strutting around like a little dictator! God knows what he would be capable of though. Potentially the new Milosevic - when sociopathic men with no morals and deep deep disregard for others get into Politics people die.

He has ended up in Bitcoin, that's tough for us to deal with, but for the sake of Romania it could be for the best.

[Luttinen]

It will be him sitting on the opposite side of the podium at his trial, throwing insane drivel & nonsense at the judge.

Not enough popcorn in the world for such display of idiocracy.

You are so right! He would undoubtedly act as his own defence lawyer (he is so sure of his own abilities and all the ego-maniacs do that) and would have a huge folder of papers and supporting evidence that proves he is right and that the SEC and FBI are completely wrong.

I don't doubt it would be a highly entertaining trial too, and also that he would go down screaming about his innocence - something along the lines of 'HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME!' 'I'VE BROKEN NO LAWS' as he is dragged to the cells. And he will believe he is innocent too. Such an arrogant self-satisfied individual.

The fact he had/has ambitions to get into Politics is quite a scary thought. Thankfully he has none of the charisma or public appeal that would ever give him a chance of gaining popular support at any level - look at how he ignites outrage after just a minute of talking and strutting around like a little dictator! God knows what he would be capable of though. Potentially the new Milosevic - when sociopathic men with no morals and deep deep disregard for others get into Politics people die.

He has ended up in Bitcoin, that's tough for us to deal with, but for the sake of Romania it could be for the best.

Funny how transparent and easy to read this guy is. I've pictured something very similar.

He will kick and scream trying to put up his own defense, using big chunk of useless documents all the way to his prison cell.

Judging by how duplicitous and manipulative the guy is, wouldn't surprise me he already ratted out his shareholders and Erik Vorhees, hoping to dodge extradition. He kinda` misses one important point, though. That he's a prime target himself, high on btc owner list and SEC regulator would love to have two high profile names under his belt.

[Stuartuk]

You are right. Rats always snitch on each other and all of these dirty players are classic rats, hiding behind their numerous false accounts on here.

Popescu's best buddy the Frenchman pankkake is also in this deep. He has taken money from MP to carryout attacks on all things not MPEx. Pankkake knows enough to put MP behind bars for blackmail, extortion, commercial attacks. If the FBI put pressure on pankkake he will talk. The French bow to pressure very easily. Always have.

For his commercial attacks alone Popescu could be fined up to 30% of his annual turnover/sales under EU law. That alone would bankrupt him and his business. He can also face prison (in some EU states) for infringing EU competition laws.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/business/sell-abroad/free-competition/index_en.htm#


Ofcourse that is the second danger he faces if the FBI don't get him. But they will.

[Aditya]

To be honest, buying IPO and selling shares without SEC regulation is somewhat SCAM prone

No independent audit
No financial statement
The company maybe doing Ponzi scheme
Market manipulation
Insider trading
etc...

[Luttinen]

You are right. Rats always snitch on each other and all of these dirty players are classic rats, hiding behind their numerous false accounts on here.

Popescu's best buddy the Frenchman pankkake is also in this deep. He has taken money from MP to carryout attacks on all things not MPEx. Pankkake knows enough to put MP behind bars for blackmail, extortion, commercial attacks. If the FBI put pressure on pankkake he will talk. The French bow to pressure very easily. Always have.

For his commercial attacks alone Popescu could be fined up to 30% of his annual turnover/sales under EU law. That alone would bankrupt him and his business. He can also face prison (in some EU states) for infringing EU competition laws.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/business/sell-abroad/free-competition/index_en.htm#


Ofcourse that is the second danger he faces if the FBI don't get him. But they will.

I wonder how far they are into this operation. I'd say they're at least half way there.

[andyfletcher]

There are jurisdictional issues involved here. Contrary to the belief of many in this forum USA law doesn't apply in the rest of the world. The SEC like to claim that they have jurisdiction in other countries where services are sold to USA citizens however there are a lot of steps involved in any extradition process some of which will require a reasonable case to be put forward and that the person will get a fair trial.

In the case of Romania there may also be a requirement that the person did something which constituted an offence in their own country. They would also have to demonstrate that USA persons were targeted in the business offering.

In this case there are also issues about the status of Bitcoin and which regulations it comes under - in both countries.

It is worth considering a different scenario when discussing this.  Suppose a USA person had a homosexual relationship with a Saudi Arabian in Chicago. Do you expect the USA to extradite the citizen to Saudi Arabia to stand trial? There are a lot of differences in these two cases but it should be clear that extradition etc is never a completely predictable or straightforward situation.

Regarding the SEC claim that Mircea Popescu should pass over sensitive information to them about a client.  The EU regulations refer to "natural persons" not EU citizens so without a "safe harbour agreement" or direction from EU law enforcement the correct procedure is to decline and the SEC staff should know that. Their claim that it would be OK is erroneous in fact and makes me wonder what else they are wrong about.

I am not a lawyer but have dealt with data protection on and off for several years.

Andy

[Luttinen]

@andyfletcher

Just look into the Liberty Reserve incident where US arrested two individuals in Costa Rica and Spain (EU) on very similar chargers. It's all there. No need for me to fill up a post on why that is. Just go look at the details.

Romania is a very US friendly country. There was recent news US just increased its military presence in Romania http://www.armytimes.com/article/20140402/NEWS08/304020058/Additional-Marines-head-Romania-Russia-Ukraine-tensions-persist

MPEx operates illegally in Romania.  It's not registered as legitimate security exchange and it's not even registered as a company. So I'm pretty sure it also brakes Romanian laws. Money laundering charge can also be thrown in there. They can pile up sufficient evidence on him for a successful extradition.

[andyfletcher]

@andyfletcher

Just look into the Liberty Reserve incident where US arrested two individuals in Costa Rica and Spain (EU) on very similar chargers. It's all there. No need for me to fill up a post on why that is. Just go look at the details.

Romania is a very US friendly country. There was recent news US just increased its military presence in Romania http://www.armytimes.com/article/20140402/NEWS08/304020058/Additional-Marines-head-Romania-Russia-Ukraine-tensions-persist

MPEx operates illegally in Romania.  It's not registered as legitimate security exchange and it's not even registered as a company. So I'm pretty sure it also brakes Romanian laws. Money laundering charge can also be thrown in there. They can pile up sufficient evidence on him for a successful extradition.

I've read about Liberty Reserve and the situation is very different - for a start MPEx only deals with BTC. 

You assume they should register as a security exchange? That depends on Rumanian law and the EU directives which have been adopted. Same for money laundering, depends if you classify it as a money transmitting business.

These things are never straightforward, ask a lawyer about it. Maybe you are an expert on EU and Rumanian law, I'm not, but have read enough over the years to know it can be complex, I've also had to deal with the tax, VAT, financial and export regulations in several EU states and much of that is incomprehensible to mere mortals.

There is a lot of FUD going around here and in the N&B forums. People are upset and many have lost btc for various reasons including inexperience. A rational discussion would be helpful. These public wars damage Bitcoin and I find that unacceptable.

Andy

Full disclosure: I'm not a "supporter" of MPEx and don't have any btc in it and just to be clear have never been offered anything to defend it. I have a nominal 87 shares in N&B but I don't think that is enough of a holding to bring my integrity into doubt.

[Luttinen]

@andyfletcher

A rational discussion would be helpful. These public wars damage Bitcoin and I find that unacceptable.

MPEx doesn't care about that. He only cares about trashing and backstabbing his competition in dirtiest way possible. You are preaching to the wrong crowd. Why don't you go to the N&B thread if you're so genuinely concerned and call out the FUD there?

[Darkstone2]

@andyfletcher

A rational discussion would be helpful. These public wars damage Bitcoin and I find that unacceptable.

MPEx doesn't care about that. He only cares about trashing and backstabbing his competition in dirtiest way possible. You are preaching to the wrong crowd. Why don't you go to the N&B thread if you're so genuinely concerned and call out the FUD there?

You don't seem all to concerned with 'trashing and backstabbing in the dirtiest way possible' either..

[Luttinen]

@andyfletcher

A rational discussion would be helpful. These public wars damage Bitcoin and I find that unacceptable.

MPEx doesn't care about that. He only cares about trashing and backstabbing his competition in dirtiest way possible. You are preaching to the wrong crowd. Why don't you go to the N&B thread if you're so genuinely concerned and call out the FUD there?

You don't seem all to concerned with 'trashing and backstabbing in the dirtiest way possible' either..

People need to ask themselves what will happen to the MPEx funds or assets once MP is taken in. Are they ready to take on that risk, especially when the extradition can happen any day now?

Taking such risk of holding assets or funds on MPEx exchange is totally insane given the situation.

[Darkstone2]

That is not the question people should be asking.

The question people should be asking is what the evidence is. We have a company that's located somewhere in europe, and some US organization that apparently is unable to cite the laws broken by this organization. And that's enough evidence for herp to trash talk the entire operation. Good call.

Let me know when the share price drops. Then i'll pick up some cheap shares.

[jimmothy]

Let me know when the share price drops. Then i'll pick up some cheap shares.

Why dont you just ask MP? He is the only one trading/pumping his own stock.

You call it a company but the rest of us call it a scheme one guy from romania set up in an afternoon.

[Luttinen]

Let me know when the share price drops. Then i'll pick up some cheap shares.

Why dont you just ask MP? He is the only one trading/pumping his own stock.

You call it a company but the rest of us call it a scheme one guy from romania set up in an afternoon.

Let's not succumb to this collectivist Eastern Europe sucks mentality. Eastern Europe is not the issue here. Best Bitcoin exchange Bitstamp is operated from Slovenia and second best, BTC-e is run from Bulgaria. Some people don't have too many praises for South America and Panama either so let's not sink to this type of idiotic discourse please, m'kay?.

MP and his dirty ways are the issue and it's just so ironic that it's now his turn to face the music.

[Luttinen]

Not sure about the digging part but people are ditching your exchange en masse. I wonder if a ponzi lies there underneath that fake volume. Guess we'll find out soon enough when your bag holders begin mass panic btc withdrawals.

I wish you more luck with this betting venture. Is that regulated gambling by the way? Do you accept US customers on that betting site?

And yeah, I accept US customers, restamp their serial numbers, get them strung out on All Temperature Cheer, and ship them to Canadian laundromats.
Oh, how they beg to be shipped.
Yeah, I make them beg.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=529946.msg6091245#msg6091245

You don't win many points with US regulators with this attitude.