The founder of Israel’s longest serving crypto exchange has filed a $500,000 lawsuit against the operators of Bitcoin wallet BT360, who he claims have exit scammed with ₿40 he leant them. Eli Bejerano, CEO of Tel Aviv-based Bit2C, alleges that BT360 is still holding the BTC he sent them in early 2019, today worth $260,000, as part of two pilot projects. BT360 has all but shut down, with its online presence having disappeared, leading to Bejerano being forced to sue to get his BTC back.
Bejerano Targeted?
BT360 enlisted Bejerano’s help last year under the pretense of fleshing out their Bitcoin savings and loan practices, with Bejerano sending them funds on the assumption that he would be paid the interest and that the capital would be paid back once the testing was completed. Bejerano began receiving interest as expected, but after three months the payments stopped and BT360 refused to give him his deposit back.
Bejerano also took out a loan from BT360, using ₿20 as collateral, a loan he claims he paid back in full in September last year. This should have unlocked his collateral but, as his lawsuit states, he is yet to get this back. Bejerano now suspects he was targeted from the outset and that the company had no intention of honoring its agreements.
BT360 Issued with Foreclosure
BT360 abruptly disappeared on February 12 with all its users’ funds, and was issued with a foreclosure order by the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court on February 26. Three defendants are named in the lawsuit – Eyal Sadeh, Erez Fischler, and Elior Maman – all of whom were in positions of power with BT360, either directly or through being chief backers, with each already blaming the other – Sadeh claims he fired Fischler for mishandling customer funds, while Fischler claims the lawsuit wasn’t targeting him, despite his name being on the docket.
The whereabouts of the funds held by BT360 are currently unknown, but Sadeh had better hope he can lay his hands on it as his personal assets are on the table if they can’t be recovered.
