According to lawyer Stephen D Palley, a Washington-based lawyer focused on blockchain and smart contracts, Craig Wright — also known as Faketoshi — could face additional sanctions in the epic $10 billion lawsuit against the Kleiman estate. Palley shared his thoughts on Twitter, saying: “If I were the judge reading this I would be absolutely outraged.”
— Palley (@stephendpalley) December 17, 2019 Palley is referring to a court filing docked on December 16 by Velvel (Devin) Freedman — representing the Kleiman estate — which states that “[…] Craig’s conduct in this litigation has been antithetical to the administration of justice.” Freeman is asking the judge to dismiss Craig Wright‘s claims that there was no basis for imposing the sanctions. “As set forth below, the record entirely supports Judge Reinhart’s findings, and the remedy he chose is absolutely justified given the gravity of Craig’s offenses,” the document continues, adding “Indeed, Craig’s Objection to the Order, far from calling into question its correctness, demonstrates that he is recalcitrant, and – given the opportunity – would engage in the same conduct that led to the Order in the first place.” Just hours after Judge Reinhart read the Order into the record, the filing notes, Craig Wright walked out of court and into an interview where he admitted lying to the court. The following day, it adds, Craig Wright called Judge Reinhart a “silly judge” during an interview.
— Palley (@stephendpalley) December 17, 2019 In its conclusion, the document says Judge Reinhart and the Court “are faced with a litigant that has no respect for the authority of the Court, or for the fair administration of justice.” For this reason, the court has decided that Craig’s objections should be “overruled in their entirety.”
Some context
The news comes three months after Craig Wright, who is building a blockchain patent empire, and the Kleiman estate asked for an extension on all deadlines to hopefully begin settlement talks. This particular lawsuit was sparked in February last year after Dave Kleiman’s brother Ira, filed a suit over the rights to a significant stash of Bitcoin. Ira argues his brother’s Bitcoin and his intellectual property rights were fraudulently seized in a scheme operated by Craig Wright after Dave passed away in 2013. As a result, Ira is suing for half the coins where were allegedly mined by Kleiman and Craig Wright between 2009 and 2011 — approximately 1 million BTC ($10 billion) — as well half of Wright’s related intellectual property rights.
