2018-11-5 12:05 |
A report by The New York Times reveals court details showing the brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss filed a civil suit against Shrem, alleging the former stole from the pair by not making full purchases as expected.
The lawsuit could also blossom with the Winklevoss twins bringing to attention the high-end purchases Charlie Shrem has been making over the past year. Shrem has bought a $2 million house in Florida, two Maseratis, and two powerboats (almost 32 feet long). Mind you, Mr. Shrem only got out of prison in 2016 after earlier legal trouble involving cryptocurrency fraud.
According to the lawsuit, the Winklevoss brothers claim they hired Shrem as an investment advisor on various crypto projects and gave him money to invest in Bitcoin. Details show Shrem received $250,000 to buy Bitcoin from different investors with the price around $12.50 at the time. The Winklevoss twins only received back $189,000 of their investment back. Shrem was reluctant with the remaining investment till date, and it amounts to about $32 million.
Background of the Legal TroubleUnfortunately, this is not the first time the Winklevoss brothers and Charlie Shrem are on the opposite ends. The initial contact between the two parties is said to go back to 2012 when the twins initially invested $750,000 into Bitcoin through Mr. Shrem. A few months into the partnership, the Winklevoss gave Mr. Shrem $250,000 which is the actual point of contention.
Charlie Shrem has also faced prison time from 2013 when his crypto exchange BitInstant fell apart. Federal records indicate that Mr. Shrem, the then CEO, cut a plea bargain and confessed to helping people buy obtain Bitcoin for use on the deep web black markets. Since his release in 2016, Shrem has been involved in some failed and scam crypto projects, and this is what has brought him to attention.
The New York Times further reports that the Winklevoss brothers did hire a private investigator to follow the missing 5,000 Bitcoin, and it did lead to addresses associated with Charlie Shrem. His recent spending patterns and his prison release did not add up, and the brothers decided it was time to get to the bottom of it. Cameron Winklevoss said to the New York Times,
“When he purchased $4 million in real estate, two powerboats, and two Maseratis, we decided it was time to get to the bottom of it.”
Potential Outlook on the CaseDespite the pending court fight, Charlie Shrem's lawyer shrugged off the accusation with a defiant tone, calling the civil suit as erroneous against his client. His further explained his position by saying:
“Nothing could be further from the truth. Charlie works vigorously to defend himself and quickly clear his name.”
Still, this has not made things more comfortable with for Mr. Shrem as an asset freeze application filed by the twins was successful. Further investigations could also mean more significant problems for Charlie Shrem as he still has an impending restitution case with the government amounting to $950,000.
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