Kleiman Estate

Testimony From Craig Wright’s Ex-Wife Throws a Twist in the Billion Dollar Bitcoin Lawsuit

06/08/2020 by Idelto Editor

On June 30, a jury trial was scheduled for the notorious Kleiman v. Wright lawsuit on October 13. Now a recent filing from the plaintiffs notes that when Craig Wright’s ex-wife Lynn Wright recently testified, she revealed a number of interesting findings.

Lawyers representing the Kleiman estate say her testimony brings the “infamous “Tulip Trust” into question and that it wasn’t a “‘blind trust’ as previously alleged.”

In mid-July, news.Bitcoin.com reported on the deposition of Craig Wright’s current wife Ramona Watts and her understanding of how bitcoin private keys work. In addition to the testimony from Watts, the court also heard from Craig Wright’s ex-wife who asserted that she owned a fraction of the company W&K Info Defense Research.

The firm W&K Info Defense Research is the questionable company that Wright and Dave Kleiman allegedly started years ago.

Wright’s ex-wife claims that six years ago, her interest in W&K was forwarded to Craig Wright R&D. The company Craig Wright R&D rebranded into the “Tulip Trust” and Lynn Wright ostensibly gathered a very small amount of stake in this company last month.

According to a filing submitted by Andrew Brenner from Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and Velvel (Devin) Freedman from Roche Cyrulnik Freedman LLP, the testimony argues against the Tulip Trust.

“As it turns out, and not surprisingly given the history of this case, Ms. Wright’s state court action reveals that everything Dr. Wright’s motion for summary judgment said about Ms. Wright’s alleged ownership of W&K was a lie,” the plaintiff’s lawyers wrote.

“If her sworn allegations in that state court action are to be believed, Ms.Wright, by her own admission, had no ownership interest in W&K at the time this lawsuit was filed (or at the time of her deposition in this case, or at the time Wright’s Motion for Summary Judgment was filed),” the attorney’s added.

The Kleiman attorneys also said that Ms. Wright swore she “transferred 100% of her transferrable interest in W&K to Craig Wright R&D” in December 2012. In her testimony, the plaintiff’s lawyers allege that Ms. Wright also said that Craig Wright R&D changed its name to the “Tulip Trust.” On July 10, 2020, Ms. Wright asserted that some of the alleged ownership interest was transferred back to her with “one percent interest.”

The Kleiman estate says there is no documentation that indicates a transfer and “[no] explanation by Ms. Wright why the Tulip Trust suddenly decided to transfer its claimed interest in W&K to her in the last few weeks and after Wright had moved for summary judgment.” The attorney Andrew Brenner further stated:

[The] plaintiffs have much more to say on this issue including, but not limited to, how the recent filing by Ms. Wright appears to be yet another scheme by Dr. Wright to defraud plaintiffs and this court.

The filing submitted on Tuesday is a response to Wright’s move for a summary judgment his attorney’s filed on May 8.

The lawsuit concerns the rightful ownership of the bitcoins that are allegedly held in the “Tulip Trust.” Although a great number of blockchain experts believe the trust is non-existent, it is alleged there is roughly 1 million BTC in the trust. The Kleiman estate seeks assets that far exceed $5.1 billion according to the original lawsuit filing submitted in 2018.

What do you think about the filing from the Kleiman estate on Tuesday? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

The post Testimony From Craig Wright’s Ex-Wife Throws a Twist in the Billion Dollar Bitcoin Lawsuit appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Self-Proclaimed Satoshi Claims He’s Autistic, Judge Tosses Out Sanctions Against Craig Wright

26/06/2020 by Idelto Editor

The Kleiman v. Wright case is seemingly headed to trial on July 6, 2020, after Judge Beth Bloom ruled against the Kleiman’s attempt to levy sanctions against Craig Wright, the man who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto. It seems Wright has claimed that a licensed clinical psychologist diagnosed him with “Autism Spectrum Disorder with high intellectual skills,” so the Judge dismissed the sanctions charges. Judge Bloom noted that it takes more than just inconsistencies, contradictory statements, and suspicions to levy sanctions against Wright’s testimony.

Craig Wright and the representatives from the Kleiman estate will meet on July 6, 2020, in order to commence trial. The date was already scheduled for July, but just recently the plaintiffs filed a motion in an attempt to levy sanctions against Wright’s testimony.

However, Wright responded to the motion and claimed that a “licensed clinical psychologist” said that he had a form of “Autism Spectrum Disorder.” The motion filed by Wright seemingly invoked Judge Beth Bloom’s decision to dismiss the sanctions.

“In this setting and based on the record presented, [the] plaintiffs have not carried their burden to show that default sanctions are appropriate,” Bloom explained. “Instead, they have laid the foundation for an overarching theme that defendant, a ‘billionaire [mathematician], who stands to lose billions of dollars in this suit,’ — ‘has run a risk/benefit analysis to determine that forgery and perjury is an ‘affordable’ in fact ‘efficient,’ mechanism to fight this case,’” Bloom added.

The Judge continued:

The evidence and arguments plaintiffs raise, in this regard, can be used to effectively persuade a jury, but they do not establish bad faith by clear and convincing evidence here.

The autism defense may have to be tested in court, and the psychologist may be required to testify in order to prove Wright’s mental condition. This is despite the fact that the Kleiman’s legal team claimed Wright’s testimony has been a “perjurious testimony and a submission of forged evidence that previously resulted in sanctions being imposed against him.”

Moreover, the plaintiffs also said that Wright’s “alleged lies and forgeries have obstructed discovery ‘targeted at the core of the Satoshi Nakamoto partnership.’”

However, because Wright provided bitcoin addresses, the sanctions (Rule 37(c)(1)(B) were only under the condition that the defendant would not be producing his list of bitcoin holdings.

“Since then, he purportedly has done so, subsequent discovery has taken place on that issue among many others, and dispositive motions and other pre-trial motions have been extensively briefed. Indeed, the parties have submitted voluminous filings encompassing hundreds of pages of briefings,” Bloom wrote.

The Judge further repeated a quote from Wright’s legal team which said:

As defendant states, ‘Plaintiffs don’t get to sit on their hands for months, wait for discovery to conclude, and then ask the Court to [sanction] [D]efendant because they believe [D]efendant failed to produce all the evidence to which they were entitled.’

Both parties are preparing for the trial and have been filing deposition designations. Additionally, a witness list was submitted by Wright’s legal team as well, which mentions individuals like Gavin Andresen, Jimmy Nguyen, Andrew O’Hagan, and Brendan Sullivan.

The latest motion that says Wright’s mental condition has been diagnosed with “Autism Spectrum Disorder,” has also sparked many conversations on social media and crypto-related forums.

What do you think about Craig Wright being diagnosed with autism and getting the sanctions dismissed? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

The post Self-Proclaimed Satoshi Claims He’s Autistic, Judge Tosses Out Sanctions Against Craig Wright appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Craig Wright Submits List of Bitcoin Addresses to the Court – Roster Contains Spent Blocks

22/05/2020 by Idelto Editor

On May 21, 2020, the infamous Craig Wright, the man who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, submitted a list of blocks and bitcoin addresses to the court that stem from the alleged Tulip Trust. However, armchair sleuths and blockchain analysis shows that a few blocks recorded in Wright’s recently filed list have been spent.

Craig Wright Files a New List of Bitcoin Blocks and Addresses That Allegedly Belong to the Tulip Trust(s)

The ongoing Kleiman vs. Wright lawsuit is heating up once again, as Craig Wright submitted a list on May 21, that allegedly belongs to the infamous Tulip Trust(s). The Kleiman estate, specifically Ira Kleiman represents the now deceased David Kleiman. Kleiman who was also known as ‘Dave,’ was a security researcher that some believe may have been a member of a pseudonymous group operating under the Satoshi Nakamoto moniker.

According to Ira Kleiman, his brother David’s inheritance was manipulated during a multi-year partnership with Australian native Craig Wright. The Tulip Trust is an alleged trust that claims to have 1.1 million BTC from mining bitcoins in the early days. Throughout the two year lawsuit filled with depositions and discovery, the judge asked Wright to produce a list several times. The list submitted on Thursday, is the third list filed during the lawsuit and cryptocurrency detectives are already scrutinizing the addresses and blocks.

The Three Lists Contain Spent Blocks and ‘None of the Lists Contain Any Blocks That Are Well-Known to Have Been Mined and Spent by Satoshi Nakamoto’

“All three lists have recently spent blocks in them, when Wright testified that the keys are inaccessible,” explains a Reddit post written on Friday, which studies the list in great detail. The Redditor notes that after the first list (CW list) and another grouping of addresses called the ‘Shadders list,’ the judge gave Wright one more chance to give the court a better list.

This led to the ‘bonded courier’ theory and allegedly the courier showed up and provided Wright with the necessary information. The Redditor also notes there is a list called the ‘DK list’ which belongs to the plaintiffs. “None of the four lists (Shadder’s List, CW list, DK list, CSW list) contain any blocks that are well-known to have been mined and spent by Satoshi, including block 9,” the armchair sleuth wrote. The individual further stated:

Again, as the CW list is a forgery, and the [recent] CSW filed list is obviously derived from it, the CSW filed List is also a forgery. To bring this all back to the early block that was spent yesterday, it was included in the Shadder’s List. At this point, we don’t know whether it was in any of the other three lists. However, it’s not particularly important, since the Shadders list, CW list, and CSW filed list already have recently spent blocks.

Essentially, the Redditor and other crypto proponents following the case, believe that Craig Wright’s latest address and block submission is another fake. The first Reddit post called “A primer on Craig Wright’s claimed blocks, Tulip Trust(s), and list of addresses” finds three definitive faults with the three lists submitted to the Florida court. “The Shadder’s List – a bug-ridden list made in 2019 meant to simply narrow down the blocks that could potentially belong to Wright,” the post stresses.

“CW List – a list produced by the ‘Trust” that is an obvious forgery derived from the Shadders List, [and] the CSW filed List – the list submitted by Wright to the court [on May 21, 2020], which is supposed to be an accurate list of his actual mined bitcoin. This is also an obvious forgery based on the CW List (and the Shadder’s List). It was supposedly made around 2010,” the post concludes.

What do you think about the recent list Craig Wright submitted to the court on Thursday? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Craig Wright Submits List of Bitcoin Addresses to the Court – Roster Contains Spent Blocks appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Billion-Dollar Bitcoin Lawsuit Continues – Craig Wright Ordered to Pay Legal Fees

18/03/2020 by Idelto Editor

Billion-Dollar Bitcoin Lawsuit Continues - Craig Wright Ordered to Pay $165K in Legal Fees

While the cryptocurrency community deals with floundering market prices, the billion-dollar Kleiman v. Wright Lawsuit continues in Florida. On March 17, a court filing shows that the self-professed Bitcoin inventor Craig Wright has been ordered by the judge to pay $165,500 in attorney fees. U.S. magistrate Bruce Reinhart granted in part some of the legal fees the plaintiffs were asking for but denied the plaintiffs’ motion for the sum of $658,000.

Also Read: Attorney Fees Stack up as Craig Wright Fights Court Order

Judge Orders Craig Wright Must Pay $165K for the Plaintiffs’ Legal Fees

For over a year now, Craig Wright, the man who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, has been battling in court against his former business partner’s family. The Kleiman v. Wright lawsuit started in February 2018 and the Kleiman estate is suing Wright for allegedly manipulating 1.1 million in BTC assets and intellectual property as well. On March 11, news.Bitcoin.com reported on the judge overruling a number of Wright’s recent court objections and ordered Wright to provide better testimony and documentation by the end of the week. The plaintiffs had various plans scheduled to depose a number of fact witnesses as well. However, the recent Covid-19 virus scare has made it so depositions need to be done by video conference. Documents must be filed by using a shared file and certain depositions may be rescheduled over international travel concerns.

Despite Covid-19 slowing down the court system, Judge Bruce Reinhart decided to make his decision concerning the Kleiman estate’s plea for attorney fees worth over $658,000. Our newsdesk detailed on November 27 that Kleiman’s legal team was advancing a motion for legal fees and Judge Beth Bloom decided to have Judge Reinhart look over the request. The Kleimans’ motion was pursuing approximately $66,023 in expenses incurred during the compel process and roughly $592,558 in lawyer fees. On March 17, Judge Reinhart ruled:

Based on the foregoing, plaintiffs’ motion for attorneys’ fees and costs is granted in part and denied in part. By March 30, 2020, defendant (Craig Wright) shall reimburse plaintiffs: $165,800.

Reinhart Reviews Court Costs and Expert Presentations

The recent order handed down by Judge Reinhart shows that he meticulously went over the plaintiffs’ attorney fee request and felt their estimate was far too high. The judge compared current lawyer costs, expert witness payments, and the charges assessed by Dr. Matthew Edman. The cryptography expert Dr. Edman was integral to the plaintiffs’ case against Wright and Judge Reinhart took note of his presentation at the contempt hearing. Edman provided the court with a supplemental affidavit that highlighted the documents Wright submitted to the court as evidence were likely “modified” and “backdated.”

“I am aware that Dr. Edman’s assistance was vital to plaintiffs’ presentation at the contempt hearing, however, I agree that it is difficult to assess Dr. Edman’s fees because no information is provided regarding his hourly rate or how he spent his time,” Judge Reinhart ruled. “I find that $40,000 constitutes a reasonable expense for the expert fees associated with this contempt hearing.”

The judge’s order has been trending on social media and forums since the filing was first published and the crypto community discussed Wright’s recent situation. “It’s an interesting order — I mean that is a pile of moolah, but the court whacked the rates and hours down quite a bit,” attorney Stephen Palley tweeted. Other people commented on how Wright got lucky he only had to pay for 20% of the original demand from the plaintiffs’ attorneys. Even though Wright has to fork over $165K by the end of the month, the billion-dollar lawsuit continues and the plaintiffs are still seeking $5.1 billion (before punitive or treble damages).

What do you think about Judge Reinhart ordering Craig Wright to pay $165K by March 30? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

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Craig Wright’s ‘Bonded Courier’ Allegedly an Attorney Who Can’t Communicate

04/02/2020 by Idelto Editor

During the first week of February, the Kleiman v. Wright lawsuit continues with more tales about the alleged bonded courier. In mid-January, Craig Wright revealed a third party provided him with the necessary information to unlock an encrypted file he could not access previously. Now Wright is claiming attorney-client privilege over 11,000 documents and he also claims the bonded courier is a lawyer who cannot share any information with the court.

Also Read: A List of Self-Proclaimed Bitcoin Inventors and Satoshi Clues Debunked in 2019

Defunct Businesses and Privilege Assertions

New court filings from the Kleiman v. Wright lawsuit in Florida have been published and as usual, there’s a slew of new information that thickens the plot. The infamous Craig Wright, who has relentlessly asserted he is Satoshi Nakamoto, is being sued by the family of his former business partner Dave Kleiman. The security expert Kleiman is now deceased, but his brother Ira believes Wright defrauded Dave of billions of dollars worth of bitcoin assets and intellectual property. The Kleiman family thinks Wright tampered and manipulated Dave’s inheritance after his death and the court case has been ongoing since February 2018. The reason the Kleimans may think that Wright and Dave had a partnership together that acquired 1.1 million BTC is due to articles published on December 9, 2015 by Gizmodo and Wired. Moreover, Wright has been telling the public he invented Bitcoin for well over four years.

Additionally, the Wired and Gizmodo articles, as well as documents filed in the Kleiman v. Wright lawsuit, shows the ostensible existence of a trust that holds the 1.1 million BTC. Wright has discussed the trust on various occasions in court and said that he was waiting on a bonded courier to unlock an encrypted file he could not access previously. This file allegedly holds all the BTC addresses Wright has owned and because the file was locked he could not share the addresses with the Florida court. The trust known as the “Tulip Trust” expired in January 2020 and the Judge gave Wright until the first week of February to await the “mysterious” bonded courier. Following the order from the Judge, a document filed on January 14 explained that Wright had met with a “third party.” Wright’s legal team stated:

“A third party has provided the necessary information and key slice to unlock the encrypted file, and Dr. Wright has produced a list of his bitcoin holdings, as ordered by the Magistrate Judge, to the plaintiffs today.”

Another document filed on Sunday shows that Wright has asserted privilege over 11,000 documents. “That number continues to grow, with 2,100 documents added just last week,” Kleiman’s legal council detailed. The number of privilege assertions stems from over a dozen firms Wright was formerly involved with or created. Kleiman’s attorney noted that the asserted privilege is not the only thing stopping them from analyzing the documents properly. “The vague descriptions of what is being withheld makes any meaningful analysis on a document by document basis impossible,” the latest court document’s notes assert. “But most troubling is the web of companies defendant has used to shield what will likely end up being tens of thousands of documents.” The Kleiman’s legal team Roche, Cyrulnik & Freedman LLP decided to make a list of all the companies Wright has used for privilege assertions. The lawyers write:

Based on that investigation, plaintiffs [has] determined that all but two companies and Nchain have already ceased to exist; and those two are in the process of being liquidated by an external administrator in Australia.

Mysterious Bonded Courier Is Allegedly a Lawyer Who Cannot Communicate Due to Attorney-Client Privilege

Further, the plaintiffs’ memorandum discloses that Wright claims the “bonded courier is an attorney and his communications are privileged.” Wright’s legal team submitted this information on January 28, 2020, and Kleiman’s legal team said they will challenge this new assertion shortly. In the last court filings, when the third party allegedly appeared in January, the plaintiffs said they deserve answers about the courier and cited that Wright had previously “forged documents, submitted false declarations and perjured himself in open court.”

Roche, Cyrulnik & Freedman had already requested “seven interrogatories about the courier.” The lawyers noted at the time that they want pertinent information in regards to “the bonded courier and his company.” Because of Wright’s recent privilege assertions with numerous companies and the fact that he insists the bonded courier is an attorney who cannot communicate, the plaintiffs’ legal team now “seeks relief.”

What do you think about Kleiman and Wright’s latest court filings? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

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