[ANN] BTCinch fund distribution delay

[bearbones]

All BTCinch cart transactions are being processed through a new wallet, which is cut off from the situation I am about to describe. It is 100% safe to use BTCinch for checkout out with merchants, so please do not hesitate to patronize their stores!

It is my obligation to report that there is a hold up in distributing the remaining BTCinch funds. The old transaction server and wallet are in the physical possession of my erstwhile partner Victor O'Rourke. Since Tuesday morning, he has taken the transaction server offline, rendering me unable to distribute the funds as intended.

I have since made repeated attempts to call Victor. His phone has been disconnected. I have written numerous emails, to which I have received no response. I stopped by his house, but he was not home. He called me briefly Tues. night to tell me that he did not want to steal anyone's money. He also said that he would not bring the server back online for even the 10 minutes it would take him to send me the wallet file. He then hung up. This was the last I heard from him.

Since then, I have continued in my attempts to contact him, to no avail. I called the police, who assured me that Victor has not committed a crime. Though neither Victor nor the police will call it such, I consider his actions tantamount to stealing.

The total remaining in the hostage wallet is roughly 600btc, including 100btc of Bit Munchies and BTCinch funds. This includes all withdrawals which are currently shown as "processing".

I am a real person, who understands that I am responsible to BTCinch members and the public. Thousands of you have doubtless seen my face, and hundreds of you have met me in person. This post will likely do more harm to me than anyone else. Understand that I do not post this out of spite or selfishness. I have simply exhausted all other options in getting Victor to do the right thing. If needs be, I will make all of our customers whole out of my own pocket. This would not be an easy thing for me, so I hope it doesn't come to that.

Again, all BTCinch checkouts are being processed through a new wallet, which is 100% safe. Since Victor cut off access to the old wallet, we have successfully processed thousands of dollars in transactions, all of which have been withdrawn. Please do not punish BTCinch merchants for Victor's shortcomings.

Sincerely,
Ira Miller

Please join me in expressing to Victor the magnitude of his actions.

Victor O'Rourke
Email address:
voo200 (at) nyu (dot) edu

Mailing address:
9460 Meade St.
Westminster, CO 80031

To demonstrate my sincerity, I will post my own contact info along with Victor's.

Email address:
imiller (at) bearbones (dot) us

Mailing address:
431 Galena St.
Aurora CO. 80010

[evoorhees]

I'd like to vouch for Ira here - I work with him on a daily basis and learned about this issue a couple days ago. Ira's been trying every option to get customer funds back... I can't believe Victor is acting like this.

I encourage anyone with an interest in this matter to contact Victor - be polite and professional, and try to get some information on what Victor thinks he's doing. At this stage, it's blatant theft of customer funds and Victor better come to his senses soon.

[stochastic]

Since then, I have continued in my attempts to contact him, to no avail. I called the police, who assured me that Victor has not committed a crime. Though neither Victor nor the police will call it such, I consider his actions tantamount to stealing.

Sue him in civil court.  Not all things are handled by the police.

[bearbones]

Since then, I have continued in my attempts to contact him, to no avail. I called the police, who assured me that Victor has not committed a crime. Though neither Victor nor the police will call it such, I consider his actions tantamount to stealing.

Sue him in civil court.  Not all things are handled by the police.

I fully plan on it, and have already notified him of my intent to do so.

[cypherdoc]

Why would he just cut and run?

[bearbones]

Why would he just cut and run?

I honestly don't believe he has cut and run. It isn't like he has any hope of getting away with it. I don't even think he knows how to access the funds.

While BTCinch is shutting down partially due to legal reasons (MSB licensing), that is only half of the story. The truth is that Victor and I had disagreements on the direction and management of the company. I believe he is doing this out of misplaced anger toward me. He said (on Tuesday) that the server and wallet were in his possession and that he did not wish to steal. He believes he is not stealing.

[akaihola]

I still haven't received my funds from BTCinch. I've tried to contact Ira Miller (bearbones on this forum) multiple times both directly by e-mail and through the Coinapult contact page, but haven't received any reply.

Anyone else with the same problem?