|
Create Date: 2008-08-15 14:34:56 | Popularity Level: 43 |
|
| |
2008-08-15 14:37:48
 Natural size
|
The e-Bullion case - a strong discussion
Why use e-Bullion? An investor explains
Ian Lamont08.14.2008
Categories Business & Finance co:e-bullion Digital Gold Currency HYIP
Comments 3
The e-currency service e-Bullion has been inaccessible since August 5. While the reasons for the outage are unclear, scores of account holders have vented their anger, frustration, and worry on Industry Standard comment threads. One reader from South Carolina, Bryan Nevins, agreed to be interviewed by The Industry Standard, to discuss how he feels about the situation, and why he invested in e-Bullion in the first place.
The Industry Standard: When did you start using e-Bullion?
Bryan Nevins: I started using E-bullion in the fall of 2005.
TIS: Why use such a service, and why pick e-Bullion?
Nevins: I wanted to own silver, but I had no good place to keep silver bullion. There was no silver ETF. E-gold’s customer support had a poor reputation, and Gold Money did not have silver holdings then.
E-bullion had a U.S. address, and phone numbers that were answered by people who sounded like Americans. You could wire money directly to them, without using an exchanger. So they had relationships with mainstream banks. They had been in business for several years, and had a fairly good reputation. I liked the 'crypto card' security system.
TIS: Can you describe how much your initial deposit was?
Nevins: Over 1,000 ounces of silver.
TIS: As the value of silver has risen, how much have your e-Bullion holdings increased on a percentage basis?
Nevins: It has more than doubled, if I take the silver high of a few months ago.
TIS: When you established your account, were you aware that e-Bullion was not a regulated financial institution, like a bank or commodities exchange?
Nevins: I was aware that regulations on e-bullion were minimal, and that worried me.
But if you look at banks, their leverage is very high. The FDIC will likely not be able to cover potential losses if some large banks go belly up. So the 'security' of mainstream institutions is less than people think -- I can remember the S&L crisis of the 80’s. Besides that, inflation is very high, so you are sure to lose purchasing power in a bank savings account.
I did some checking around. E-bullion had been in business for years, and I could find no accounts of money 'disappearing.' The fact that the business had a physical presence in California gave it some legitimacy
I have seen many 'scam' sites on the Internet, and they are usually very obvious. They offer very high returns. There are no names or real addresses given, and no reasonable description of a business plan.
Even now, none of the public documents suggests that e-bullion was a fraud. They are investigated for 'money laundering'. If e-bullion was a fraud, it was an unusually elaborate one.
Family members are fighting for ownership of the business, which is not rational if it is a pyramid scheme.
TIS: When did you discover that you were unable to access your e-Bullion account?
Nevins: It was about August 6. I had checked my account just a few weeks earlier and everything was fine.
TIS: What's your take on the current site outage, and the DOJ investigation of the service?
Nevins: If I was e-Bullion, I would put the site out of service as the 'safest course of action'.
Alternately, they could allow people to log in and see balances, but not allow transactions. But that might take special programming, which they could not do on short notice.
I suspect the 'money laundering' is related to [High Yield Investment Products]. These are really gambling schemes, but some people might be tricked. Both e-gold and E-bullion allowed anonymous accounts (false names) and that encouraged their use by HYIPs. I think the DOJ should show that people were really harmed, and give a compelling reason for disrupting business. Also, the DOJ should guaranty that silver savers (like myself) will not have their bullion impounded by the government.
Readers, feel free to share your story below. Did you use e-Bullion to invest in silver or gold, or for some other purpose, such as conducting overseas business transactions or investing in HYIPs? Why did you use e-Bullion, as opposed to another digital gold currency service? Were you aware that it was not regulated like a bank or brokerage? |
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
| |
|
|
|
|
Ian Lamont | 2008-08-15 14:40:38 |
|
|
Court papers indicate James Fayed had absolute control over e-Bullion
Ian Lamont08.12.2008
Categories co:e-bullion crime Digital Gold Currency Standards & Legal
Comments 4
As the e-Bullion outage enters its second week, recently obtained court documents indicate that e-Bullion's technical and trading infrastructure would be unable to operate normally without the active oversight of co-owner James Fayed.
Fayed was jailed on August 1 on federal charges that he engaged in an unlicensed money transmitting business. Authorities also consider Fayed a suspect in the July 28 murder of his wife and e-Bullion co-owner Pamela Fayed.
The information on e-Bullion's day-to-day management comes from a declaration by James Fayed filed in Ventura County Superior Court in California. The nine-page, 40-point document is undated, but was part of ongoing divorce proceedings between James and Pamela Fayed, and was intended to support his contention that she was unfit to have any role in company operations.
In the declaration, Fayed identified himself as the CEO of e-Bullion (registered in Panama) and two associated companies, Goldfinger Bullion Reserve Corporation and Goldfinger Coin & Bullion, Inc. (both Delaware corporations). He claimed that he was directly responsible for balancing all sales and liabilities, and overseeing corresponding precious metal deposits at vaults in the U.S., Europe, and Australia.
Fayed also described a complex security system that apparently limited access to e-Bullion's offices, computer systems, and vaults. The system was controlled from Fayed's home offices in Camarillo and Moorpark, California. The document further indicated that a complex set of technologies would prevent Pamela Fayed and the employees of Goldfinger and e-Bullion from operating the businesses without his direct oversight and approval (emphasis his):
'I personally maintain and control ALL access security codes and passwords. I have been and am the ONLY individual in the company who can physically access the building, its contents AND precious metal vaults simultaneously, twenty-four hours a day. All others have limited access that is monitored and/or time-controlled (clock-based) and recorded in security records. Alarm calls are sent directly to me at all hours. ...
... I personally designed and customized the installation of a complex, ultra-sophisticated DOUBLE REDUNDANT security system that is both physical (in the building and its parameters) and virtual (reporting to his private office network round the clock.) This custom, high security system monitors and controls the safety of the corporate headquarters and all its contents, the safety of its employees, and the active 24/7 implementation of advanced, anti-theft, crime prevention. I oversee and monitor all security issues round the clock through a Virtual Private Network set-up at my home office.'
While Fayed stated that he employed a chief technical officer and chief security officer to help manage and develop the security systems, they were not identified by name and it was not clear if they had the means to access all of the systems and accounts described in the declaration. Fayed also did not say what would happen to e-Bullion.com were he unable to respond to alarms, alerts, or other events affecting e-Bullion or its accounts.
In the declaration, Fayed suggested that news of unusual activity related to e-Bullion could have disastrous consequences. He described an incident that took place on October 6, 2007, in which his wife allegedly embezzled $800,000 from a corporate account in one of their companies. The declaration states that Pamela Fayed took advantage of a scheduled vacation by a Bank of America account manager who personally handles their corporate accounts to transfer funds to a new personal account in her name. According to James Fayed, he was forced to 'postpone customer bank wires, to the annoyance of hundred (sic) of customers.' He continued, 'due to the lightning-fast speed in which negative information is conveyed through the Internet and among my customers; if I had not discovered this withdrawal in time to cover, and correct, the problem of the large withdrawal, mass panic and loss of confidence on an international scale [emphasis his] would have ensued, which would cause rapid closing of accounts worldwide, resulting in collapse of the company.'
The court records cited in this article were originally retrieved by The Camarillo Acorn in Camarillo, California. |
|
|
| |
Add comment
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
Snap Category:
News
|
|
|
|
Snap Tags:
e-bullion, ebullion, ebullion problems, e-bullion problems, e-bullion news, ebullion news |
|
|
|
Related Snaps:
- e-Bullion update: Fayed's lawyers say feds seized $24 million in assets
- Daughter seeks control of mother's ownership interest in e-Bullion
- Feds drop charge against James Fayed, company still under indictment
- Feds drop charge against James Fayed, company still under indictment
- Briefly: Judge denies request to maintain e-Bullion's computer systems
- eBullion users may get their funds before the end of the trial
- Pamela Fayed, founder of E-bullion is still alive in the hearts of her friends
- Government Seized $24 Million From E-bullion and Incorrect Case Facts Saturate The Internet!!
- e-Bullion's sales rose 1,623% as the U.S. dollar fell
- e-Bullion update: Arrest in Fayed murder investigation
- Always the latest news from e-Bullion
- What happens to payment processors? Is it a death of e-commerce?
- e-Bullion's lawyer blasts new government claims, says seizure of funds 'not authorized'
- Police has found the murderer of Pamela Fayed, founder of E-bullion?
- What is e-bullion case compared to Bernard Madoff???
- e-Bullion's lawyer calls government's actions 'extreme'
- Government Seized $24 Million From E-bullion and Incorrect Case Facts Saturate The Internet
|
|
|
|
Member:
Ian Lamont | 1 Snaps |
|
|
|
|
 | | |
|
|
