BonelliErede, the Italian law firm representing victims of the BitGrail crypto exchange hack, has filed a petition with an Italian court to declare the exchange bankrupt under article 6 of Italian Bankruptcy Law, a BonelliErede representative announced[1] on reddit Friday, April 27.
The move represents the latest development in a war of words and lawyers that has exploded between BitGrail’s owner, Francesco “The Bomber” Firano, and the Nano Foundation, since the exchange reported the loss[2] of 17 mln Nano (XRB) tokens (worth around $187 mln at the time it was reported, and $124 mln[3] at press time). In an interview with CT, Firano claimed[4] the theft dates to Jan. 19, but it was first reported[5] Feb. 8, 2018.
According to a Medium post published[6] by the BitGrailVictimsGroup, BonelliErede is filing the bankruptcy petition on behalf of a BitGrail creditor, Espen Enger, with whom over 3000 claimants have so far allegedly made contact. Most victims have reportedly told Enger that they “prefer an immediate accounting of BitGrail’s assets in bankruptcy,” fearing further depletion of their assets:
“In filing for a declaration of bankruptcy, a decision has been made to trust the Italian legal system to resolve the conflict. We are confident that the Italian authorities are best equipped to require Mr. Firano to disclose the facts of what occurred […] [We] seek an equitable distribution of the assets rather than to permit private resolutions in which some victims might profit over others.”
In February, Nano developers posted[7] an accusation that Firano had asked for the altcoin’s ledger to be modified “in order to cover his losses,” as well as allegedly “misleading” the community regarding the exchange’s solvency.
Firano
