The person who says they are Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin, is currently in a legal battle over who owns $143 million worth of bitcoin.
A US judge ruled on Friday that Craig Wright, who claims to be the creator of Bitcoin, has provided incorrect information linked to $143 million in disputed cryptocurrency, indicating “prima facie evidence” of contemptuous behavior in court proceedings.
A US judge, Bruce Reinhart, made a ruling in the ongoing case between Craig Wright, who claims to be the founder of Bitcoin, and Ira Kleiman, who has claimed rights to disputed cryptocurrency mined by his late brother David. Wright has been accused of failing to provide accurate information related to $143 million in cryptocurrency, and the judge has found “prima facie evidence” of contemptuous conduct in court proceedings.
In 2022, a judge ruled in favor of Kleiman and his linked company W&K in a case related to disputed cryptocurrency. However, W&K claims that Wright did not provide all the necessary personal information to enforce payment, and has asked the court to take action for contempt of court, with potential daily fines of $250,000.
The U.S. judge, Bruce Reinhart, said that Craig Wright had shown evidence of contemptuous conduct in the court proceedings for failing to provide information related to $143 million in disputed cryptocurrency. Wright is in a legal dispute with Ira Kleiman over the rights to crypto that was mined by Kleiman’s late brother. Kleiman won the case in 2022, but Wright never fully provided personal information to enforce the payment. Wright has been asked to pay a fine of $250,000 per day, and the judge found prima facie evidence of contemptuous conduct due to Wright’s failure to provide basic information about his spouse and her assets.
Reinhart dismissed Wright’s claim that the form should be kept confidential to avoid disclosing sensitive personal information, calling it “factually false” and stating that the designation was never appropriate in the first place.
The unsealed form reveals that Craig Wright listed Satoshi Nakamoto as his nickname or alias and stated that his assets have been transferred or assigned to others.
Craig Wright and his lawyers must explain by May 18 why they should not face sanctions for trying to keep information confidential to avoid unreasonable court costs. A hearing on July 6 in Palm Beach, Florida, will examine the facts related to the alleged non-compliance.
The judge has given Wright and his lawyers until May 18 to explain why they should not face a penalty for trying to keep information confidential. The legal provisions aim to prevent unreasonable or excessive inflation of court costs. On July 6, there will be another hearing in Palm Beach, Florida, to review the facts related to the alleged non-compliance. Wright will have another chance to argue his case that the information he provided was accurate, but that he cannot provide some of the requested data due to legal restrictions.
A judge in England ruled in April that it was not in the public interest to continue pursuing contempt of court charges against Craig Wright. The charges were related to Wright allegedly revealing details of a judgment before it was meant to be made public.
Craig Wright was allowed to appeal a court decision in Norway which found that social media user Magnus Granath had the right to post tweets in 2019, which called Wright a “fraud” and a “scammer” for his claim to be the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi.
