Former Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles to face class-action lawsuit in US

Following a recent ruling, the former CEO of the ill-fated Mt. Gox crypto firm Mark Karpeles will go on to become the defendant in a class-action lawsuit in relation to the infamous 2014 incident.

In an unmistakable rebuke against the move to have the lawsuit against Karpeles in the Philadelphia court where it was filed dismissed, District Judge Robert Kelly said no. Judge Kelly was not moved by the argument that the court did not have jurisdiction over the former Mt. Gox CEO in the lawsuit by U.S.-based customers of Japan-based Mt. Gox, Reuters reports.

As a result, the case will now be going ahead where plaintiffs will be seeking justice against Karpeles for hiding the fact that Mt. Gox had suffered a breach, which then resulted in bitcoins getting stolen and ultimate collapse of the crypto exchange. Among those who became victims of the theft were citizens of Philadelphia, thousands of whom had accounts with the defunct firm.

This is why Judge Kelly decided to hear the case out. However, it’s worth pointing out that this is just the starting point in the lawsuit. It is also worth noting that the lawsuit, which was filed in 2018, also included Mizuho Bank, CoinDesk reports.

However, since the bank itself has been concluded to be not under the jurisdiction of the court, only the part about Karpeles will be heard. This particular lawsuit is just one of several that have been filed against Karpeles, with the defendant’s legal team successfully having some dismissed. On example was the lawsuit filed in Canada in 2016 that was thrown out.

Karpeles was even found innocent in a case in Japan where he was accused of embezzlement, among other things. Clearly, his defense team hoped that they could see a repeat of these events with the Philadelphia court. If they could not have the class-action lawsuit dismissed, Karpeles can still be found innocent.