New York Supreme Court Declares NYAG has Jurisdiction over Bitfinex

The New York State Supreme Court ruled that the New York Attorney General (NYAG) has jurisdiction over the case with cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, regarding the fraud allegations.   

IFinex, the company behind Bitfinex and Tether previously appealed to the court regarding fraud and taking funds from Tether to cover up an $850 million loss of funds resulting in the misled of information towards the investors in the state of New York. The NYAG argued that it was too early for the court to address jurisdictional questions during an ongoing investigation.   

According to the court filing, the NYAG would be able to carry on with the investigation over the allegations of fraud and misleading investors.   

The New York State Supreme Court denied IFinex’s motion to dismiss the NYAG’s lawsuit that would prosecute Bitfinex under the Martin Act. The court decided that it has jurisdiction to rule over the case.   

The court has decided that the stay that was in place back in May 2019 has been eliminated. This means that relevant documents must be provided to the NYAG and Bitfinex has less than two months to turn over the documents.