NChain chief scientist and self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator Craig Wright has received an official summons to appear in court in connection with a mammoth $10 billion lawsuit levied against him by the estate of early Bitcoin adopter Dave Kleiman.
According to public documents dated March 15 and filed with the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Wright was personally served with a summons on Feb. 22.
“That personal service was effected and the Defendant, Craig Wright, came to the front door of the property and admitted his identity and freely accepted the service and Deponent was able to identify the Defendant through open source photographs and the Defendant thanked Deponent and then closed the front door to the property,” the sworn affidavit states.
As CCN.com reported, Ira Kleiman — acting on behalf of the estate of his brother Dave Kleiman — has sued Wright for more than $10 billion, alleging that Wright stole as much as 1.1 million BTC — worth $10.2 billion at the time the lawsuit was filed — belonging to one of the forensic computer investigator’s companies following his death in 2013.
Kleiman and Wright had allegedly acquired these coins by mining them through W&K Info Defense Research LLC. The ownership structure of W&K is in dispute, though Kleiman’s estate claims that he was either the sole owner or held it in partnership with Wright. Either way, they claim that Wright stole at least 550,000 BTC, or 1.1 million if W&K was wholly owned by Kleiman.
Wright, who lives overseas, must respond to the summons by April 16; he was originally required to respond sooner, though the court granted him an extension.
Court documents also reveal that he has been represented in previous hearings by attorney Andres Rivero. Neither Wright nor his attorney has addressed the suit publicly.
Kleiman’s estate, meanwhile, is represented by Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, a legal firm with offices in both the US and UK.
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