Court papers indicate James Fayed had absolute control over e-Bullion

As the e-Bullion outage enters its second week, recently obtained court documents indicate that e-Bullion's technical and trading infrastructure would be unable to operate normally without the active oversight of co-owner James Fayed.

Fayed was jailed on August 1 on federal charges that he engaged in an unlicensed money transmitting business. Authorities also consider Fayed a suspect in the July 28 murder of his wife and e-Bullion co-owner Pamela Fayed.

The information on e-Bullion's day-to-day management comes from a declaration by James Fayed filed in Ventura County Superior Court in California. The nine-page, 40-point document is undated, but was part of ongoing divorce proceedings between James and Pamela Fayed, and was intended to support his contention that she was unfit to have any role in company operations.

In the declaration, Fayed identified himself as the CEO of e-Bullion (registered in Panama) and two associated companies, Goldfinger Bullion Reserve Corporation and Goldfinger Coin & Bullion, Inc. (both Delaware corporations). He claimed that he was directly responsible for balancing all sales and liabilities, and overseeing corresponding precious metal deposits at vaults in the U.S., Europe, and Australia.

Fayed also described a complex security system that apparently limited access to e-Bullion's offices, computer systems, and vaults. The system was controlled from Fayed's home offices in Camarillo and Moorpark, California. The document further indicated that a complex set of technologies would prevent Pamela Fayed and the employees of Goldfinger and e-Bullion from operating the businesses without his direct oversight and approval (emphasis his):

"I personally maintain and control ALL access security codes and passwords. I have been and am the ONLY individual in the company who can physically access the building, its contents AND precious metal vaults simultaneously, twenty-four hours a day. All others have limited access that is monitored and/or time-controlled (clock-based) and recorded in security records. Alarm calls are sent directly to me at all hours. ...

... I personally designed and customized the installation of a complex, ultra-sophisticated DOUBLE REDUNDANT security system that is both physical (in the building and its parameters) and virtual (reporting to his private office network round the clock.) This custom, high security system monitors and controls the safety of the corporate headquarters and all its contents, the safety of its employees, and the active 24/7 implementation of advanced, anti-theft, crime prevention. I oversee and monitor all security issues round the clock through a Virtual Private Network set-up at my home office."

While Fayed stated that he employed a chief technical officer and chief security officer to help manage and develop the security systems, they were not identified by name and it was not clear if they had the means to access all of the systems and accounts described in the declaration. Fayed also did not say what would happen to e-Bullion.com were he unable to respond to alarms, alerts, or other events affecting e-Bullion or its accounts.

In the declaration, Fayed suggested that news of unusual activity related to e-Bullion could have disastrous consequences. He described an incident that took place on October 6, 2007, in which his wife allegedly embezzled $800,000 from a corporate account in one of their companies. The declaration states that Pamela Fayed took advantage of a scheduled vacation by a Bank of America account manager who personally handles their corporate accounts to transfer funds to a new personal account in her name. According to James Fayed, he was forced to "postpone customer bank wires, to the annoyance of hundred (sic) of customers." He continued, "due to the lightning-fast speed in which negative information is conveyed through the Internet and among my customers; if I had not discovered this withdrawal in time to cover, and correct, the problem of the large withdrawal, mass panic and loss of confidence on an international scale [emphasis his] would have ensued, which would cause rapid