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Mizuho Bank Listed as Defendant over MtGox U.S Class Action
Mizuho Bank Listed as Defendant over U.S Class Action
Mizuho Bank Ltd, is one of Japan’s largest banks, and it has just become a part of the U.S legal case against Mt.Gox, according to reuters. Mt.Gox said it had lost 750,000 of its customers’ bitcoins and 100,000 of its own.
Mizuho Bank Listed as Defendant
On Friday, Mizuho Bank was listed as a defendant to the lawsuit against Mt.Gox because the bank allegedly helped the exchange commit fraud by providing its services. According to a complaint by Gregory Greene who lost $25,000 from Mt.Gox, Mizuho did not hold bitcoins on Mt.Gox’s behalf.
After Mt.Gox filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy, it protected the exchange from lawsuits in American courts. A class action was filed against Mt.Gox and Mizuho by Canadian Bitcoin users in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
In a Chicago federal court, the altered U.S class action was filed. This accused the Japanese Bank of having knowledge about Mt.Gox’s fraud and not separating funds belonging to Mt.Gox from its customers. Lastly, the complaint also said that Mizuho provided banking services that increased losses for Mt.Gox users. The complaint simply said,
“Mizuho profited from the fraud.”
Mizuho Distancing Itself from Mt.Gox
According to a conversation between Mark Karpeles and Mizuho, as published by the WSJ, the Japanese bank was trying to create a distance between Mt.Gox and itself.
Karpeles was asked by a Mizuho bank official to voluntarily close the Mt.Gox account, citing “various issues.” The bank official said that without any notice, the account could be closed. However, Karpeles said that Mt.Gox would not cooperate.
Mt.Gox claiming bankruptcy protection had protected the exchange from U.S courts, however, it did not safeguard Tibanne, Mark Karpeles, and Mt.Gox’s American affiliate. The U.S assets of these three were frozen temporarily due to a decision made by a federal judge.
The altered U.S complaint also said that even though the U.S assets have frozen, “evidence suggests” that the defendants actually still receive bitcoins in America.
In addition, according to reuters, Jed McCaleb and Gozague Gay-Bouchery, executives of Mt.Gox, were added as defendants to the complaint.
Stay tuned to CoinReport for further development
