Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, who once claimed to be the inventor of Bitcoin, is being sued for attempting to swindle his former business partner Dave Kleiman’s estate of $5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency, Bloomberg reported.
Filed in the Florida District court by Kleiman’s brother earlier this month, the lawsuit alleges that Mr Wright participated in a joint Bitcoin-mining venture with the now-deceased forensic computer investigator Dave Kleiman, a noted “computer genius” who died in his home in April 2013.
“Craig forged a series of contracts that purported to transfer Dave’s assets to Craig and/or companies controlled by him,’’ lawyers for Kleiman’s family said in the complaint.
According to the plaintiffs, Mr Wright forged and backdated a number of documents after Mr Kleiman’s death in order to make it appear that the co-founder had signed away his shares.
The pair controlled as many as 1.1 million Bitcoins at the time of Kleiman’s death, according to the suit. They were held trusts set up in Singapore, the Seychelles Islands and the U.K., the suit says.
The plaintiff “demands judgment against defendant for the value of the wrongfully retained Bitcoin and IP, together with court costs, interest, and any other relief this court deems just and proper,” the complaint states.