The Industry Standard - Government attempts to block e-Bullion from recovering seized assets - Comments

yes true this is the only

przemyslaw piejko — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:21:38 -0400

yes true this is the only site i check to see further updates as to whats going on. i have 5$k tied up.

I had just put through a

Marie — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:10:32 -0400

I had just put through a withdrawal of $3000 and have no idea where that got stopped. I also have another $900 in e-bullion. I know we are all in the same boat and hope we all get our money back. It took me a long time to build it up and it took one day to take it away.

I am fortunate to stumble

Wilbur — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:09:28 -0400

I am fortunate to stumble across this open forum which has all the latest updates on E-Bullion. Of course my question still remains how and when will my funds return to me? Please keep up with this story because you are my only true source.

Readers: I have posted some

Ian Lamont — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:33:00 -0400

Readers:

I have posted some documents below that show the U.S. government James Fayed/e-Bullion/Goldfinger, and the estate of Pamela Fayed continuing to argue and appeal various aspects of the case. Note that there have been multiple extensions in the case(s) since last year, and currently the defense and the estate of Pamela Fayed has until June 5 to issue a response to the government's complaint for forfeiture. There may be additional delays/counterclaims/filings/motions which draw out the case even more. There is no indication if or when seized assets will be returned to former e-Bullion account holders, and I am unable to answer any questions about this issue.

The court documents are below:

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Law & Government Business & Law james fayed Goldfinger

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Law & Government Business & Law ebullion

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Law & Government Business & Law ebook law

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Law & Government Business & Law goldfinger coin and ebullion

Other court documents can be reviewed here:

http://www.thestandard.com/news/2009/02/13/recent-e-bullion-court-filing...

Ian Lamont
Managing Editor
The Industry Standard
twitter.com/ilamont

I got $24,000.00 on me

Alex — Tue, 05 May 2009 11:31:22 -0400

I got $24,000.00 on me e-bullion.com account i hope to gat it back to

Alex

i have 5000$ in my e-bullion

jerry — Sun, 03 May 2009 15:21:58 -0400

i have 5000$ in my e-bullion account, still hoping to get i tback

Hello , I am wondering if

James — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:53:04 -0400

Hello , I am wondering if anything came about from the march 9th hearing? anything would be appreciated. I hope to one day get good news that my money will be returned, I invested all the money from my Dads life insurance into gold through e-bullion.

Hello , I am wondering if

James — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:53:03 -0400

Hi Ian, Just wondering with

Richard — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:38:04 -0400

Hi Ian, Just wondering with all this.. Who, if anyone, is looking after us the Depositors?? I only have a few 100 tied up,how about the ones with 1000's... Usual deal , I guess we forget it... Thanks for the update. Regards, Richard.

Government attempts to block e-Bullion from recovering seized assets

Ian Lamont — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:09:44 -0500

A tangled legal dispute surrounding the shuttered digital gold currency firm e-Bullion has turned to the ownership of tens of millions of dollars in seized assets.

Federal prosecutors filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for Central California on Monday attempting to block Goldfinger Coin & Bullion -- a partner company of e-Bullion -- from recovering an estimated $20-$24 million taken from e-Bullion and Goldfinger vaults and offices by the IRS and FBI between August 4-8, 2008.

The raids were initiated by authorities one week after e-Bullion and Goldfinger co-owner Pamela Fayed was slashed to death in a Los Angeles parking garage. Investigators immediately suspected her estranged husband, e-Bullion and Goldfinger founder James Fayed, but did not have enough evidence to arrest Fayed for the murder. Instead, he was charged with operating a money transmittal business without a license. A month later, the money transfer charges were dropped after authorities decided to charge Fayed with murder. However, Goldfinger remained under indictment in the illegal money transmittal case.

Now, the government and Goldfinger lawyers are battling over ownership of the seized assets. A declaration by James Fayed dated December 12, 2008 states that gold, silver, coins, currency, uncashed money orders, and cash equivalents worth more than $20 million "are the property of [Goldfinger] [and] are not the property of [Goldfinger's] depositors." A motion submitted by Goldfinger lawyers three days later calls on the government to return all of the seized assets or "no less than $1,000,000" to cover legal fees and business costs associated with the trials.

On Monday, Assistant U.S. District Attorneys Mark Aveis and Edward Alon submitted a response to the Goldfinger motion. The document criticized Fayed's "obvious bias" and pointed to earlier statements by Fayed in which he claimed that the property was jointly owned with depositors. The government also described e-Bullion's business model, which claimed to allow users to buy bullion over the Web and have it physically stored in reserve by Fayed's companies. The document further claims e-Bullion was used extensively by the operators and customers of high-yield investment programs, which the government described as "Ponzi schemes." Federal prosecutors and the FBI have said they would like to have a receiver manage the return of the money to e-Bullion account holders.

Fayed's December 12 claim that Goldfinger owns all of the seized assets also contradicts comments made by James Spertus, the lawyer who represented e-Bullion and Goldfinger until late last year. Spertus told the Standard in August that property seized in the raids included account holders' assets and "the goal is to get assets returned so customers can get their money back."

The Industry Standard attempted to contact the attorneys now representing Goldfinger for comment, but has yet to receive a reply.

A hearing is set for March 9 to discuss the Goldfinger motion.

Sources: Court documents, United States Attorney's Office for Central California, James Spertus.

Image: Tao Zhyn