A landmark judgement for Cryptocurrency Fraud

Article by Marlon Pinto of AnotherDay, members of IDR.

The judgement in the case of ‘Ion Science Ltd and Duncan Johns v Persons Unknown’ is considered landmark and may show relevance for future Cryptocurrency cases.

In November 2020 specialist investigators from AnotherDay were approached by a client who had been a victim of a crypto ‘Initial Coin Offering’ (ICO) fraud. They had lost a substantial sum of money investing into various cryptocurrency investment opportunities, the investment seemed to be successful and therefore initially the client thought there was some truth behind the scam, however, no investment or profits have since been returned to the client.

After warning the victim that speed is key in tracing cryptocurrency, they immediately carried out an in-depth investigation into the events leading up to the scam and tracked and traced the Bitcoin ‘investments’ across the blockchain to a number of well-known exchange services. The former Metropolitan Police Detectives gathered the evidence in a robust and evidential format before engaging with specialist lawyers who then assisted with High Court applications.

This is believed to be the first ICO fraud case to go before the Commercial Court and the first case where the court has granted permission to serve a free-standing Bankers Trust order out of the jurisdiction against cryptocurrency exchanges. A Bankers Trust order is an order made to a third-party asking them to disclose certain information to the applicant.

This case is significant to cryptocurrency fraud and asset recovery because of how the Court has been flexible in their approach and assisted the victims of this type of fraud.

To understand more about how this was done and how IDR members, AnotherDay can help you - get in touch!