A US court has granted permission to the estate of the $21 million fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) of Titanium Blockchain to receive claims of the victims and initiate the process of distribution.
As mentioned in Tuesday’s court filing, the approvals of the claims include “(i) defining the eligible claimant class; (ii) giving notice of via electronic means; (iii) receiving claims via electronic means; (iv) validating claims using blockchain transactional data; (v) receiving and considering claims determination objections; and (vi) establishing the Claims Bar Date and Claims Process timeframe.”
A fake project raising millions during the ICO market peak
Titanium Blockchain was one of the major multi-million ICO frauds busted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
With a promise of building decentralized cloud computing services, the project raised $21 million, out of its total target of $35 million, in merely three months, from December 2017 to March 2018.
However, as an exit strategy, the company announced the theft of a massive amount of its token from the company wallets. This alerted the market watchdog that obtained an emergency asset freeze order against the company and also filed charges against its founder Michael Stollaire.
The company also falsely boosted partnerships with major tech and other companies, including PayPal, Verizon, Boeing, and The Walt Disney Company.
An expedited process
The recent court order detailed that the claimants need to file for their claims within 90 days, and the receiver will “establish the claim amount based on available transactional data, Claim Form information, and supporting documentation.”
It also highlighted that, in case of any failure in claims within the deadline, the estate would not entertain any applications. Notably, over 21,000 Ethereum addresses are currently holding tokens from the fraudulent ICO.
“After the Receiver determines all claims and objections, the Receiver will determine the proposed distribution amount based on the total value of eligible claims, types of claims, and available assets, and submit a distribution proposal to the Court,” the court order added.
