Ethereum’s former advisor Steven Nerayoff has launched a lawsuit for justice in Nassau County New York Supreme Court against Michael Hlady, also known as Michael Peters, and Marianna Shooshani. The lawsuit alleges that the fraud scheme was orchestrated to defraud Nerayoff, resulting in significant financial losses.
According to court documents, plaintiff Steven Nerayoff accuses Hlady and Shooshani of forming a fictitious consulting firm, North Star Ventures Corp. (“NSV”), and seeking to provide professional consulting services to Nerayoff. His leadership at Alchemist Group LLC, a consulting and investment firm for the Ethereum ICO protocol and blockchain companies.
The lawsuit, which delves into allegations of fraud and deception, details an elaborate scheme that allegedly defrauded Nerayoff of more than $750,000 through nonexistent consulting services. Via X, Neraoff decided:
I am pleased to announce that justice has finally been served for Michael Hlady, the government agent and provocateur who worked with FBI agents and others to wrongfully prosecute me for nearly four years. The FBI gave Hlady credibility, (…) and the government intentionally protected Hlady from prosecution in 2018, despite being aware of his fraudulent activities that had nothing to do with me.
Nerayoff said that X (formerly Twitter) has already initiated legal action against FBI agents StormX and now Hlady. He also hinted that his legal work was not over yet and that further developments would follow. “And make no mistake. We will not stop until we expose all the corruption involved in #EthGate, including within institutions like the SEC. “Look forward to seeing more in the future, and please know that I am doing my best to hold everyone accountable for their actions,” he said.
Ethereum Insider exposes what happened.
Nerayoff filed suit against Hlady and Shooshani for creating and promoting a fictitious entity called North Star Ventures Corp. (“NSV”). According to the complaint, in December 2017, Shooshani introduced Nerayoff to her then-boyfriend, Hlady, who posed as a former government agent and claimed to have ties to the NSA, FBI and CIA. The defendants alleged that Hlady’s consulting firm, NSV, was comprised of a team of similar former government agents who could provide security and business investigative services essential to Nerayoff’s blockchain ventures.
Legal documents detail that Shooshani and Hlady, posing as NSV, induced Nerayoff to sign a consulting agreement promising a wide range of services from individuals with more than 125 years of experience in areas critical to business and government operations. “The settlement alleges that ‘the North Star Venture team advised companies and participated in transactions with a total valuation in excess of US$1 billion, all conducted behind the scenes with the utmost confidentiality,’” the complaint states. This is quoted:
From January to October 2018, Nerayoff paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to NSV based on invoices and requests submitted by Hlady and Shooshani. These payments were intended to cover consulting fees, as well as travel and other costs associated with the services NSV was contracted to provide. The lawsuit details a list of transactions involving significant amounts of money wired or transferred under the belief that they were legitimate business expenses, demonstrating the depth of the alleged fraud.
The turning point in the story came in November 2018, when Nerayoff discovered that not only did NSV not exist, but that Hlady was a convicted felon who had recently been released from prison after defrauding a Catholic school. The complaint highlights these shocking revelations with excerpts from Nerayoff’s communication to Shooshani in which he expressed his disappointment and feelings of betrayal. Nerayov, who revealed the truth, sent the following message to Shushani: “This is the worst mistake of my life. He’s a two-bit fraud. How can you release this criminal on me!?”
Legal proceedings and claims
In response to these claims, Nerayoff’s legal team presented a multi-pronged legal strategy seeking to recover funds paid to Hlady and Shooshani and seek additional damages. The lawsuit establishes several causes of action, including fraudulent inducement and common law fraud, supporting the seriousness of the defendants’ conduct.
“Plaintiffs agreed to enter into a contract with NSV on January 14, 2018, pursuant to Defendants Hlady and Shooshani’s express representations that Defendant Hlady was a former federal agent,” the complaint alleges, referring to a former Ethereum advisor on the contract. Describes trust in detail. Misrepresentation.
The former Ethereum advisor previously revealed how the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and FBI have been trying to hold him accountable for three and a half years in a lawsuit alleging he fabricated crimes to gain influence over other players in the cryptocurrency industry. I did. .
At press time, Ethereum (ETH) was trading at $3,027.
Featured image from WJAR, chart from TradingView.com