- Craig Wright will today learn his punishment for the fraud he perpetrated in the COPA vs. Wright trial
- Justice Mellor has already ruled that Wright lied extensively and repeatedly to the UK court during the trial
- Wright faces an injunction and also possible referral for criminal charges
Satoshi Nakamoto pretender Craig Wright will learn today whether he faces potential criminal charges over the mass fraud he perpetrated on the UK court system throughout the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) vs. Wright trial. The judge in the case, Justice Mellor, has already ruled that Wright “lied to the Court extensively and repeatedly” both in pre-trial evidence and during the trial itself, and today he will hand down Wright’s punishment. This will include an injunction and a possible referral to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which will decide if there is enough evidence and public interest in pursuing a case against him.
“A Thoroughly Unreliable Witness”
Wright was sued by COPA in early 2021 after Wright demanded that its members take down the Bitcoin whitepaper he said was his by copyright. The case was billed as Wright’s ‘all-or-nothing’ attempt to get himself anointed as Satoshi Nakamoto, with the outcome affecting multiple other lawsuits Wright has filed since 2019.
Wright submitted multiple witness statements and was on the witness stand for over a week in his defence, with Justice Mellor ruling on the last day that Wright was not Satoshi and did not author the Bitcoin whitepaper. In a written ruling two months later, Justice Mellor found Wright to be “a thoroughly unreliable witness who has engaged in forgery on a grand scale
and, in his attempts to sustain his case, has lied extensively.”
He added that all of the 500+ pieces of evidence Wright submitted were either fraudulent or irrelevant to proving his case, and found that Wright even attempted to defraud the court during the trial.
Wright Could Face Criminal Charges
Wright’s punishment, which will be meted out today at 05:30 ET, will include an injunction which will prevent him from calling himself Satoshi Nakamoto or hinting that he created Bitcoin.
The scope of the injunction will be a very interesting aspect of the ruling, as there are freedom of speech considerations to take into account, as well as ensuring that Wright is not allowed to litigate in any country based on his fraudulent Satoshi claim.
Justice Mellor will also decide whether to refer Wright’s case to the CPS for potential criminal action. His comments in his ruling suggest that he will almost certainly do this, with COPA stating that it will do so even if Justice Mellor declines. The CPS will have to decide whether there is enough evidence that Wright was behind the forgeries to a criminal standard as well as deciding whether it is worth spending public money on prosecuting.
It is worth noting that Wright would likely stand accused of dozens if not hundreds of cases of fraud and perjury, and one conviction alone is enough for a prison sentence. His UK citizenship would likely also be up for review were he to be found guilty.
Wright has 21 days to appeal following the handing down of the order, and he has already indicated a desire to do so.
