Ex-Bitcoin Exchange MtGox CEO Mark Karpeles Nowhere to Be Found

Mark Karpeles, the CEO of the ex-bitcoin exchange MtGox, is nowhere to be found as the date for the appearance in the U.S court approaches, his attorney informed a federal judge.

Tibanne KK is another of Karpeles’ units identified in the lawsuit filed in Chicago federal court in February. According to the defense lawyer Eric Macey, Karpeles and Tibanne KK will hand in papers asking the U.S District Judge Gary Feinerman to rule that he has no jurisdiction over them.

Macey stated that Karpeles has never been in the United States and currently lives in Japan. Furthermore, he said after the proceeding that he was not adequately served with the complaint that began the lawsuit. Judge Feinerman has given Macey until April 28 to file the papers making his case and arguments.

Ex-Bitcoin Exchange MtGox’s Opposition

Jay Edelson, the attorney of the two former consumers of MtGox suing the ex-bitcoin exchange told Feinerman,

“We think there’s jurisdiction.”

The two customers in question are Gregory Greene and Joseph Lack. Greene who lives in Illinois claims that he lost about $25,000 worth of bitcoins and Lack states that he lost about $40,000 worth of the digital currency. Both of them are accusing the ex-bitcoin exchange MtGox and Karpeles of fraud.

The Back Story

Karpeles having filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States last month is being sued by at least two American former customers of his exchange. After announcing that it had lost over 700,000 of its customers’ bitcoins and 100,000 of its own, the ex-bitcoin exchange MtGox filed for bankruptcy protection in Tokyo, Japan in February.

After a week of filing for bankruptcy protection in the United States, the ex-bitcoin exchange MtGox announced on its website that it had found 200,000 bitcoins in an old wallet it overlooked when searching for the missing bitcoins.

On March 9, MtGox filed papers at the U.S bankruptcy court in Dallas to get American court recognition to temporarily stop its creditors from chasing after it in the U.S.

Last month, Feinerman said that he will prevent the Chicago plaintiffs from moving forward against MtGox in Japan but it will allow them to continue forward with the U.S linked Karpeles and other defendants.

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