Mark Karpeles, the quondam CEO of the now-defunct Bitcoin (BTC) exchange Mt. Gox, is seeking to put an end to litigation filed by a one-time exchange user back in 2022.

In papers filed in a Chicago federal court on Jan. eight, Karpeles contended that he is entitled to summary judgment as the main plaintiff in the case as Gregory Greene readily admitted that his initial claims were either untrue or unsupported.

A summary judgment can exist awarded by a court on behalf of i political party against another "summarily" - i.e. without the process of a full trial. Information technology is typically pursued when the moving party believes there to be "no 18-carat effect every bit to whatever material fact" and they are thus entitled to the judgment as a matter of law. In their introduction to the filing, Karpeles' lawyers contend that:

"After the resolution of the claims against the other defendants in mid-2018, rather than withdrawing claims based on allegations that Mr. Greene readily admitted in subsequent discovery were not true or unsupported, Mr. Greene doggedly pursued these claims. The time has come to cease this litigation in its entirety."

Conversion, negligence and consumer fraud claims

Karpeles is seeking that summary judgment exist granted in his favor on three counts: conversion, negligence and consumer fraud. Every bit regards the first, Karpeles argues that there is no evidence to support Mr. Greene'south claim that Mr. Karpeles converted his, or whatever other user's, Bitcoin or fiat currency custodied on Mt. Gox.

To recover for conversion under Illinois law, the plaintiff must show that the defendant has either wrongfully or without authorization "assumed control, dominion, or ownership over the property."

On the second count, negligence, Karpeles contends that Greene lacks evidence to support his claim that Mt. Gox lacked adequate safe procedures to manage the Bitcoin information technology custodied.

Moreover, on a purely legal basis, the former CEO contends that Greene has failed to establish "a duty of reasonable care" owed to him that would be recognized under Illinois law. This alone, per Karpeles' lawyers, is plenty to warrant a summary judgment on this count:

"Where in that location is an absence of Illinois law recognizing a detail duty, the Court 'generally choose[s] the narrow interpretation which restricts liability, rather than the more expansive interpretation which creates substantially more liability.'"

Karpeles further argues that Illinois' economic loss doctrine bars Greene'due south negligence claim, which he claims rests on an allegation of a purely pecuniary injury.

In a lengthy review of the multiple points made in Greene's original testimony, Karpeles has lastly claimed he is due a summary judgment for the third count, consumer fraud, on the basis that Green'southward account ostensibly contradicts itself and is unfounded.

Past battles

Equally Cointelegraph reported in December 2022, Karpeles pleaded not guilty to prosecutors' charges of allegedly embezzling approximately 340 1000000 yen (around $iii million) from Mt. Gox and manipulating the exchange's ledgers to inflate its greenbacks balance.

In March 2022, the former CEO was acquitted of embezzlement charges simply found guilty of tampering with financial records. Specifically, he was charged with having combined his personal finances with those of the commutation in order to conceal the platform's losses to hackers. The erstwhile CEO has since appealed this conviction besides.