Did BitMEX executives loot over $440 million?

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According to an October 30th court filing, BitMEX executives looted $440,308,400 from the exchange once they learned they were under investigation by the United States government. 

“Being keenly aware of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) investigations and imminently forthcoming civil and criminal charges, and while preparing to go on a lam from the U.S. authorities, Defendants Hayes, Delo and Reed looted about $440,308,400 of proceeds of various nefarious activities that took place on the BitMEX platform, from accounts of Defendant HDR, Exhibits E, F, G,” says the court filing.

It goes on to say that the BitMEX executives purposefully did this to “hinder Plaintiffs’ and Government’s recovery of any future judgments.” Or in other words, to reduce the value of assets under BitMEX’s control that can be seized by government officials.

This October 30th filing is the latest in the lawsuit that originally began in May 2020 by Pavel Pogodin’s Bitcoin Manipulation Abatement LLC (BMA) that accuses BitMEX of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, and more.

Where’s the evidence?

Although the plaintiffs are arguing that BitMEX executives looted BitMEX, they have not provided any evidence that supports their claim in the new filing.  

When BMA first pressed charges against BitMEX in May, the HDR global team acknowledged BMA but wrote them off by saying, “BMA has recently emerged as a serial filer of claims against companies operating in the cryptocurrency space, and is widely recognized for operating just like a patent troll.”

Regardless, any lawsuit filed against BitMEX–especially those filed before October 1st–have been given validity by the charges pressed against the BitMEX exchange by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and the Department of Justice. Now, it is only a matter of time until the courts in the United States make a decision that decides the fate of the BitMEX exchange.