The United States and Australia have secured court orders in asset forfeiture
actions that will lead to millions of dollars being repaid to victims who made
investments or deposits with e-Bullion.com, a website that federal prosecutors
contend operated for years as an illegal money-transmitting business.
e-Bullion was operated by James Fayed, who is currently on California’s death
row in relation to a separate investigation that led to him being convicted in
state court of contracting with hitmen who murdered his wife.
The domestic litigation in the civil action ended on Monday, July 30, when
United States District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez signed a forfeiture judgment
awarding to the United States approximately $3.6 million in bank funds and $5.4
million worth of gold, silver, and platinum previously seized by the United
States government. The conclusion of the case was prompted by two entities
formerly controlled by Fayed—Goldfinger Coin and Bullion (GCB) and Goldfinger
Bullion Reserve Corp (GBRC)—withdrawing their claims to the assets.
In the Australian litigation, which was finalized on July 23 by a judge in
Perth, GCB, GBRC, James Fayed, and the Estate of the murdered Pamela Fayed
agreed to the forfeiture of approximately $13.3 million obtained when precious
metals held by Fayed were liquidated. The United States continues to work with
Australia to repatriate the funds forfeited in Australia so that the United
States can commence efforts to compensate the innocent investors and depositors
who put their money into e-Bullion.
e-Bullion purported to provide opportunities to invest in precious metals.
Through the website, individuals opened accounts with real money, which they
used to purchase virtual “e-currency” purportedly backed by precious metal
reserves maintained by Fayed’s companies in the United States and Australia.
e-Bullion accountholders could then trade their e-currency with others on the
website. While there were no fees associated with establishing or funding an
account on the e-Bullion website, there were fees associated with changing
e-currency back into real money.
In practice, e-Bullion allowed individuals engaging in fraud to obtain money
from victims and move the money around the world while remaining virtually
anonymous and avoiding many global banking reporting requirements. An
investigation into e-Bullion and GCB by the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation
revealed that operators of fraudulent “High-Yield Investment Programs” and other
illegal investment schemes used e-Bullion to collect millions of dollars of
e-currency from victims, much of which was wire transferred by GCB to overseas
accounts. The U.S. government’s asset forfeiture case alleged that Fayed and his
companies not only allowed these illegal schemes to use e-Bullion to
operate—collecting substantial fees when the fraudsters cashed out—but also
profited by retaining monies abandoned by fraudsters who believed they were
under investigation by law enforcement or were about to be caught.
During the course of the criminal investigation into e-Bullion, Fayed hired
hitmen to murder his wife and business partner, Pamela Fayed. James Fayed
subsequently was prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office
and sentenced to death following the separate investigation by local
authorities.
During the course of the criminal investigation into e-Bullion and the
subsequent asset forfeiture litigation, the United States was able to obtain
information from e-Bullion’s and GCB’s encrypted computer servers in California
and Switzerland, which the government believes will accurately identify
e-Bullion accountholders and the value of their individual accounts. The United
States Department of Justice intends to distribute the recovered funds to the
innocent accountholders through a process known as “remission,” which allows the
government to use forfeited money to compensate domestic and international
victims of crime.
This matter was successfully resolved with the substantial assistance
provided by Australian authorities including the Australian Federal Police,
Attorney General’s Department, and Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
Prosecutors in the United States and Australian authorities worked closely
together over the course of the litigation to recover a total of approximately
$24 million in assets.
The $24 million figure includes $1.8 million the United States government
previously forfeited after tracing the funds to a fraudulent scheme that
operated through e-Bullion. The U.S. Department of Justice has already started
the remission process related to those forfeited funds (see:
http://www.kvremission.com/).
e-Bullion accountholders who wish to be considered for remission may submit
claims—which should include copies of supporting account documentation—via
e-mail to: usacac.ebullionremission@usdoj.gov. e-Bullion accountholders may also
submit claims via mail to:
United States Attorney’s Office
Asset Forfeiture Section
ATTN:
e-Bullion Remission
312 North Spring Street,
14th Floor
Los Angeles,
CA 90012.
No comments:
Post a Comment