Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes reached a global settlement with early investors Frank Amato and Elfio Guido Capone, according to lawyer Pavel Pogodin.
#BitMEX and Arthur Hayes just settled with their early investors Amato and Capone for about $44M in cash and equity and are now destroying evidence so no one can see. pic.twitter.com/Cz5yDDu6NV
— Pavel Pogodin, Esq. (@ppogodin) December 17, 2020
The case concerns a lawsuit by Grasshopper Capital partner Frank Amato and RGB Coin Ltd, joined in May by Capone. They allege that they participated in early rounds of BitMEX financing, but the platform’s management did not provide them with a stake in the share capital. The total amount of claims stood at $540 million.
According to Pogodin, Hayes agreed to settle the dispute when the plaintiffs’ lawyers “found compromising evidence.” Some of that evidence was entered into court records, the lawyer said.
The settlement took place shortly after highly incriminating evidence was discovered by investors’ lawyers. Some of that evidence got into court records. Arthur’s lawyers are now trying to strike it from public file.
— Pavel Pogodin, Esq. (@ppogodin) December 18, 2020
“The same evidence is directly related to the four lawsuits we filed against BitMEX and Arthur Hayes in state and federal courts in California,” Pogodin noted.
He added that the former CEO’s decision to settle demonstrates the strength of the discovered material. He paid Amato and Capone “in cash and stock” $44 million.
Pavel Pogodin represents the law firm Consensus Law and defends the interests of Dmitry Dolgov and Pauna Gabriel-Razvan. Earlier, a month apart, they stated that the exchange manipulated the market and was involved in money laundering.
Earlier, on October 1, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a suit against BitMEX and its owners, accusing them of operating an unregistered trading platform and violating KYC/AML procedures.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice has charged BitMEX leadership with violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.
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