All news is rigorously fact-checked and reviewed by leading blockchain experts and seasoned industry insiders.
- Ira Kleiman’s legal representative is filing a document with the court seeking sanctions against Craig Wright for submitting false Bitcoin addresses as evidence.
- The document also seeks sanctions against Wright for statements about the Tulip trust courier.
In a document filed with the Southern District Court of Florida by Ira Kleiman’s legal representation, the lawyers of teh Kleiman family are seeking sanctions against Bitcoin’s self-proclaimed inventor, Crag Wright. The document was filed on May 5, in compliance with the schedule set by Judge Beth Bloom to begin the Wright vs. Kleiman trial.
Previously, both parties were informed that any pre-trial motions have to be filed by May 8, 2020. The new document asks for a 10-day extension of time to file the motion for sanctions. Ira Kleiman’s legal representation claims that they are introducing this document out of precaution and “abundance of caution”.
The mystery of the messenger and Bitcoin’s false addresses
According to the document, the legal representation of Wright’s former partner’s brother, Ira Kleiman, requests sanctions for the following reasons:
Plaintiffs intend to file a sanctions motion based on Defendant’s conduct in these proceedings. This motion will include, but not be limited to, the Defendant’s provision of a false notice and false list of bitcoin addresses in response to this Court’s order allowing him ‘through and including February 3, 2020, to file a notice with the Court indicating whether or not this mysterious figure has appeared from the shadows and whether the Defendant now has access to the last key slice needed to unlock the encrypted file’.
The identity of the courier was one of the hottest topics within the crypto community during the beginning of the year. The courier was supposed to bring the keys that would unlock the funds of Bitcoin’s inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto. However, after it was revealed that the courier was supposedly Wright lawyer, the fact fell into the disappointing category of unverified evidence that Wright had turned over to the court.
CNF has been closely following the development of the case between Wright and Kleiman. The beginning of this legal dispute has its origins in 2018, when Ira Kleiman accused Wright of stealing intellectual property from his brother, Dave Kleiman. Allegedly Dave and Wright mined Bitcoin after creating the cryptocurrency. According to Ira, Craig Wright stole his brother’s mined funds. These funds are estimated to be around 500,000 BTC, a sum that is more than a billion dollars at Bitcoin’s current price.
Because Wright claims to be the inventor of Bitcoin, he had to provide evidence of the existence of the funds to the court. However, Wright claimed that after inventing the cryptocurrency, the funds in BTC went to the referred trust. Despite this, Wright has been unable to present evidence to support his claims. Instead, he has attempted to take refuge in attorney/client privilege in order not to submit more than 11,000 documents requested by the court.
Bitcoin self-proclaimed inventor investigated for plagiarism
On the other hand, Charles Sturt University, Craig Wright’s alma mater, stated through its Twitter account that it is investigating Wright for having plagiarized his doctoral thesis. In mid April, a publication on Medium exposed the fragments that Wright used in his dissertation without giving credit to the original authors. The document consists of 90 pages that, according to Paintdfrog, are “highly” plagiarized. Some sections would have been copied word for word. It is expected that once the research is completed, Charles Sturt University will make further statements.
Hi everyone. We are aware of the allegations and are investigating them. We won't be commenting further publicly. We respect every student's right to privacy.
— Charles Sturt University (@CharlesSturtUni) May 6, 2020
