- Judge Bruce Reinhart questions the authenticity of the Tulip Trust documents submitted by Craig Wright.
- Craig Wright was once again unable to create a list of his Bitcoin balances because the information was stored in the so-called Tulip Trust.
- The judge has given Wright until 12 March 2020 to obtain the necessary documents.
Judge Bruce Reinhart, who is responsible for the Craig Wright case against the heirs of Dave Kleiman, has questioned the authenticity of the documents presented by Wright in the ongoing legal dispute. Furthermore, Reinhart states that Wright has lied to the court on many occasions in recent times, thereby perjuring himself. Although he does not accuse Wright of lying directly, Wright’s words carry “no weight”:
I give no weight to sworn statements of Dr. Wright that advance his interests but that have not been challenged by cross-examination and for which I cannot make a credibility determination. I have previously found that Dr. Wright gave perjured testimony in my presence.
The Tulip Trust allegedly contains information that shows how much Bitcoin Wright owns and where it is stored. Wright was to have been given access to the Tulip Trust by a courier, but the courier never arrived. His wife, Ramona Watts, is registered as a trustee of the Tulip Trust, but Wright relies on spousal privilege not to disclose any further information.
Furthermore, according to Wright, the managing attorney of the Tulip Trust, Denis Mayaka, is protected by attorney-client privilege. Denis Mayaka is a lawyer from Kenya who graduated from the University of Kenya with a Bachelor of Law degree in 2007 and has submitted an affidavit to prove that he administers the Tulip Trust:
I am lawyer and obtained my bachelor of law degree in 2007 from Moi University in Kenya… I have represented Dr. Craig Steven Wright since 2012 on, among others, investment matters. Specifically, I represent Dr. Wright and Wright International Investments Ltd in connection with the Tulip Trust documents, including the Tulip Trust dated July 7, 2017.
However, the judge stated that he doubts the authenticity of the affidavit and therefore, in his view, there is no role for Mayaka in this case. He is not recognised in court as the managing attorney of the Tulip Trust. Reinhart says:
First, as finder of fact, I disregard the Mayaka Declaration because it has not been adequately authenticated. Particularly given my prior finding that Dr. Wright has produced forged documents in this litigation, I decline to rely on this kind of document, which could easily have been generated by anyone with word processing software and a pen.
As a result of this statement by Reinhardt, Wright is now forced to share documents and information about the Tulip Trust with both the judge and lawyers of Ira Kleiman in order to clarify the ownership claims of the allegedly more than one million Bitcoin deposited. Wright has until 12 March 2020 to present the documents to the court.
The Tulip Trust was allegedly established by Craig Wright and Ira Kleiman, the late brother of David Kleiman, to secure the custody of more than one million Bitcoins. The Tulip Trust was allegedly established immediately after the creation of Bitcoin and the publication of the white paper by Satoshi Nakamoto, which Craig Wright has been claiming for several months. The case remains controversial and an end is still not in sight.
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