The arraignments of Matthew Goettsche, Jobadiah Weeks and Joseph Abel were held on January 15th.
All three BitClub Network defendants pled not guilty to the
charges the DOJ has leveled against them
.
Silviu Catalin Balaci, a fourth defendant in the case is believed to still be in custody in Germany. German authorities arrested Balaci at the request of the DOJ last month.
The fifth BitClub Network defendant, Russ Medlin, is still on the run.
The latest from the DOJ is that Medlin (right)
is believed to be residing in a country that does not have extradition with the United States, and has access to enormous wealth and two private planes.
In related news, Jobadiah “Joby” Weeks is unhappy about his pretrial detention.
On December 20th Weeks filed a motion requesting his pretrial detention order be revoked.
As I understand each of the three BitClub Network defendants will remain in custody till their trial.
The DOJ filed their opposition to Weeks’ motion on January 15th. In their response the DOJ addresses each of Weeks’ arguments.
In a nutshell, the DOJ argues Weeks is a flight risk.
In his motion, Weeks ignores the central points—Weeks stands accused of serious crimes with considerable sentencing exposure, has tremendous access to wealth, has significant foreign travel and contacts, and has a demonstrated history of anti-government rhetoric.
There is no combination of pretrial release conditions that can change that to ensure that he will appear in Court to answer for the significant criminal liability that he faces.
The DOJ alleges Weeks and his co-conspirators bilked BitClub Network investors out of $722 million.
Sentencing wise Weeks is looking at an estimated 15 years in prison (25 years max).
Anti-governmentism is a common theme in cryptocurrency circles. In the MLM cryptocurrency niche however, this is often misrepresented as simple anti-regulation.
Not in the sense one might argue that regulation stifles business either. Rather it’s a much more “I should be able to steal as much as I want from anyone because… cryptocurrency”.
BehindMLM touched on
BitClub Network’s anti-governmentism
as far back as 2014.
With respect to the DOJ addressing Weeks’ own anti-governmentism, it’s presented within the context of Weeks being unlikely to respect the law if released.
Through cited evidence, the DOJ establishes that Weeks’ participation in BitClub Network saw him
thwart U.S. regulation, tax liabilities, and detection, and encouraging others to do the same.
For much of the conspiracy, Weeks encouraged potential U.S.- based investors to utilize virtual private network (“VPNs”) to access the BitClub Network site to avoid detection by U.S. law enforcement and to anonymize the scheme.
Weeks publicly emphasized that the scheme was set up to avoid detection by U.S. tax authorities.
In one cited Facebook group chat, Weeks explicitly instructs an investor on how to evade BitClub Network’s “no US investors” pseudo-compliance.
Person 1:
🤖 Quick Answer
What happened at the BitClub Network defendants' arraignments on January 15th?Matthew Goettsche, Jobadiah Weeks, and Joseph Abel pleaded not guilty to charges filed by the Department of Justice. A fourth defendant, Silviu Catalin Balaci, remains in German custody following his arrest at the DOJ's request, while fifth defendant Russ Medlin remains fugitive, believed to reside in a non-extradition country with substantial financial resources.
Why did Jobadiah Weeks file a motion in December?
Jobadiah Weeks filed a motion on December 20th requesting review of his pretrial detention conditions, expressing dissatisfaction with his current incarceration status while awaiting trial in the BitClub Network case.
Where is Russ Medlin believed to be located?
Russ Medlin is believed to be
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