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Mt. Gox CEO Karpeles refuses travel to U.S. for questioning
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- badman_ting 13y agoI wouldn't either. Law enforcement can do what they want here.
- wavefunction 13y agoWith a name like yours, I'd think you'd realize that your statement applies to pretty much every corner of the globe minus a few countries.
- skj 13y agoThis guy will probably avoid traveling to any country where people want to prosecute him.
- badman_ting 13y agoIn that case Japanese law enforcement can do with him what they will. What's the problem?
- wavefunction 13y agoDownvoted for stating the truth, I lol at thee...
- skj 13y agoDownvoted for stating an irrelevant truth.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- snippyhollow 13y agoIs Karpelès a US citizen? I don't see it anywhere, I think he's French (born and raised in France).
- k-mcgrady 13y agoHe's French according to Wikipedia and it doesn't mention anything about US citizenship [1] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Karpelès http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Karpelès
- mikeash 13y agoDoes he have US citizenship? His Wikipedia page says he was born in France and moved to Japan in 2009, and makes no mention whatsoever of the US aside from Gox's bankruptcy filing.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- pmorici 13y agoHe isn't American, he's French, there is nothing to renounce or have both ways.
- jrockway 13y agoSo a bunch of Americans are suing a Japanese company in US courts? Let me know how that works out.
- pmorici 13y agoMtGox has an entity incorporated in Delaware.
- andyjohnson0 13y agoDoes this "entity" have any assets?
- rayiner 13y ago
- jxf 13y agoAs a US citizen, if I lived outside the US and was summoned back for "questioning" by adverse parties, there's almost no reason I can imagine going. If that's truly all they want, then there's no reason it needs to be done in person. Depositions can be conducted remotely in many (though not all) jurisdictions.
- busterarm 13y agoI wonder how many folks out there agree with you in this case but not with say Julian Assange.
- aspensmonster 13y agoMy understanding is that, under Swedish law, Assange has what amounts to an arrest warrant. That they don't call it that and insist on merely claiming he's "wanted for questioning" is, as far as I can tell, semantics. He'd be brought in for questioning and subsequently arrested pending a trial. I'm not a lawyer though, much less in Swedish law. I think Assange should go to Sweden to face questioning and his likely arrest. I think he's denying himself and the other parties involved justice on the matter, something Assange claims to hold in high regard. However, I also don't think he'd ever make it to Sweden to begin with, even if he did decide to leave the embassy. And, even if he did make it to Sweden, the U.S. State Department has made it clear that they will hunt him to the edge of the Earth for what he's done and enabled others to do.
- gsnedders 13y agoHe'd be arrested in the UK as soon as he stepped outside of the embassy for breach of the terms of bail (and that is a criminal offence and there is absolutely no question he has committed it), even if everything else was dropped.
- sentenza 13y agoThere are a bunch of policemen stationed permanently at the street corner, day and night. The daily cost for this is 11000 Pounds, total cost so far is more than 6 Mil[1](video is in German). Is that usually done in the UK? I don't know what this is, but it sure isn't subtle. [1] http://www.tagesschau.de/videoblog/london_calling/londoncalling-assange100.html http://www.tagesschau.de/videoblog/london_calling/londoncall...
- malka 13y agohttp://money.cnn.com/2014/01/27/technology/security/bitcoin-arrest/ http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/27/technology/security/bitcoin-... I would not go either.
- xenophonf 13y agoSeeing how the U.S. arrested foreign gambling website CEOs transiting through U.S. airports - CEOs and businesses that didn't violate U.S. law, in my opinion - I can't blame Karpales.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- shellox1 13y agoAs a European I wouldn't go to this messed up country either, especially since he isn't citizen there.
- CharlesMerriam2 13y agoRemember when the U.S. was the "shining beacon"? Where someone coming into questioning couldn't be held indefinitely as a "material witness"? Or to first have all assets seized and then assigned a terrible attorney because of insolvency? When it would not be a stupid move to submit to questioning on U.S. soil? Yesh, that's what I thought.
- coldtea 13y agoWhen was that? The slavery era? The prohibition? The seggregation? The McCarthy era? The J.E Hoover era?
- zacharypinter 13y agoI think it was the era when we were young and learning about the U.S. in school :)
- pekk 13y agoRemember when everyone could do whatever they want without the threat of even being charged and held to trial? edit: It's like everyone forgot what happened with Mt Gox and now assumes that Karpeles is the second coming of Julian Assange
- viraptor 13y agoWithout going into extremes, can't we simply believe that the there's absolutely no reason for him to go to the US for deposition and that he's still guilty of losing all those money? He doesn't have to be the second coming of anyone to know it's dangerous for him to travel anywhere.
- rsynnott 13y agoWhen was this, exactly? Was this Imaginary Fantasy Past Golden Era US, or real US?
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- notastartup 13y agopeculiar he would choose Taiwan of all places, where there is no extradition treaties with the US.
- logfromblammo 13y agoI believe Admiral Akbar might have some advice for this CEO. Given the U.S. propensity for arresting foreign nationals for allegedly breaking U.S. laws while completely outside of U.S. territory just as soon as they finally set foot on it, I would politely decline this request as well. The offer to pay 100% of all travel expenses up front is particularly suspicious. Given what has already occurred, I'd probably also wear nitrile gloves and a dust mask when handling the "first class plane tickets" sent by my former customers.
- dragonwriter 13y agoYeah, somehow, I'm not seeing any reason to believe that the people suing Mt.Gox for fraud are in league with a government plot against Karpeles. Mt.Gox sought bankruptcy protection in Japan, and then in the US (tied to the Japanese process). People with claims in the US against Mt.Gox, as is fairly routine in bankruptcy cases where there are active claims, sought to have Karpeles testimony as a representative of the bankrupt firm with relevant knowledge compelled by the bankruptcy court. > The offer to pay 100% of all travel expenses up front is particularly suspicious. Payment of a witnesses travel costs, lodging, plus attendance fees in US federal court is generally mandatory (28 USC Sec. 1821.) Offering to pay up front as a means of removing a potential convenience barrier for a witness is, AFAIK, fairly routine, rather than "particularly suspicious".
- logfromblammo 13y agoExcept there is no particular reason why Karpeles actually needs to be physically present to provide his testimony, or for the corporation's designated representative in court to be a specific individual rather than an attorney hired for that purpose. I am not one who believes that physical custody of a witness is either necessary or sufficient to obtain truthful statements from him. I already find some of the traditional rituals of courtroom procedure to lie somewhere between useless and ridiculous, so I still stand behind my statement. I will now expand it to say that the routine practice of paying for the physical transportation and upkeep of a witness is particularly suspicious and wasteful. If you want questions answered, ask them. You should probably be prepared to be disappointed in the answers, if you get any at all. You may find that some people are more forthcoming when a grim-faced person in a robe, with armed men ready to mete out punishment at a word, is not the one demanding answers. We have an Internet now. Information moves a lot faster and more inexpensively by itself than it does in the custody of a human courier. Thus, the stated motive--"to appear for questioning"--appears on its face to be bogus.
- ChuckMcM 13y agoNot surprised that he doesn't want to step into the jurisdiction of federal marshalls. And the excuse that it would be an 'unacceptable misuse of resources' from the opposing counsel is pretty thin. People teleconference all the time and there are plenty of certified court reporters in either Japan or Taiwan who could facilitate a deposition.
- emeidi 13y agoSo wouldn't I.
- srdev 13y agoRather understandable, since I'm sure theres a good case for him going to jail in the US. I'm not sure why there's all the comments about the US being authoritarian here though -- Karpeles really screwed a lot of people over,did a bunch of shady stuff, and was grossly negligent in running his exchange. Jail time would not be unwarranted, presuming that the law allows for it.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- malandrew 13y agoWhy doesn't he just invite the US officials to visit him in order to question him? Why must he be the one burdened with travel?
- aspensmonster 13y agoWow. After 5 hours and 51 comments this story is already on page three at rank 73! Slow clap right there.