Mt. Gox Questioned By Employees For At Least 2 Years Before Crisis

Rambo Tribble (1273454) writes "Reuters reports that Mt. Gox employees began to question the handling of funds at least two years ago. Although only CEO Mark Karpeles had full access to financial records, a group of a half-dozen employees began to suspect client funds were being diverted to cover operating costs, which included Karpeles' toys, such as a 'racing version of the Honda Civic imported from Britain.' Employees confronted Karpeles in early 2012, only to be given vague assurances with a 'pay no attention to the man behind the curtain' ring. Unfortunately, since Mt. Gox was not regulated as a financial institution under Japanese law, it is unclear what recourse might be gained in pursuing this question."

Comments

I wouldn't want to be Mark Karpeles at all.

[caluml]

I wouldn't want to be Mark Karpeles at all. He's going to have annoyed a lot of dodgy characters who want their money back. I think he'll be looking over his shoulder for the rest of of his life.

Re:I wouldn't want to be Mark Karpeles at all.

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

If Karpeles was smart enough, he would have been careful to avoid the accounts of Russian Oligarchs etc, and instead simply have stolen money from unconnected, largely unmonied Libertarians who have little to no legal recourse. Since there is no society, these types would have little means of coming back at him.

Now we'll find out something

[Animats]

Now that ex-employees are talking to the press and the cops, we'll find out what was going on.

The Reuters article makes it clear that Karpeles had exclusive personal control over Mt. Gox's cash. That probably means he'll be the one going to jail. I've been writing for months (ever since Mt. Gox suspended US dollar withdrawals last summer) that Mt. Gox was either incompetent, broke, or crooked. Now it looks like all of the above.

Why would Karpeles import a Honda Accord R from the UK to Japan? They're made in Japan.

Re:Now we'll find out something

[afgam28]

He imported a Civic, not an Accord. There are two cars called the "Civic Type R", one of which is made in Japan (and also sold in the US) and the other is made in England (and sold in Europe). The former looks like this:

http://www.allvehicles.co.uk/c...

The latter looks like this:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi...

Re: Easy

[O('_')O_Bush]

...? That isn't what a Ponzi scheme is. That is just fraud.

Pro tip

[glasshole]

Never ever work for a company where only the CEO has access to the financial records.

Underbody LEDs ...

[perpenso]

What the hell is a "racing version" of a Honda Civic.

For many, one with underbody LEDs. :-)