Danny Brewster, CEO of Cyprus-based bitcoin company Neo & Bee, has broken his silence, taking to reddit to address some of the rumours that have been circulating about him of late.
Posting on the forum as ‘cryptocyprus’, the British-born entrepreneur said the suggestion he has committed fraud is his “greatest concern” at the moment.
Earlier this month, Cyprus Mail reported that two customers paid Brewster €15,000 and €20,000 for bitcoins, which they never received.
Further allegations then started flying, claiming Brewster had left Cyprus and defrauded investors. Brewster took to the Bitcoin Talk forum to defend himself and admitted he was out of the country, but stressed that he was away on business.
In his reddit post, He goes on to explain that he sold bitcoins to a number of people prior to Neo & Bee opening to the public, with four of these people requesting that he hold their bitcoins until they provide him a wallet address to send them to.
“Sorry to disappoint those that believe the tales that I simply took them…. The keys are still stored on paper. The total sales to these 4 people amounts to 75.29270138 BTC which were purchased for a combined total of €35,213.57 so I have no idea where the values reported in the media have been derived from,” Brewster’s reddit post continues.
It goes on to say:
“I have not received one single request from the individuals who bought the bitcoins from me to send the coins to an address they provided. With one exception a request was made but that was received from the individual that introduced one of the buyers to me, they requested for me to transfer the coins to his Bitstamp account.
I didn’t send the coins to his address as he was not the person that I had the agreement with. One of these people went directly to the police following rumors that I had fled the country.”
Brewster claims he has been trying to contact the Criminal Investigation Department of the Cypriot Police for days via both phone and email, but they have not responded.
He goes on to explain why he did not return to Cyprus immediately following the issuance of an arrest warrant:
1. I have a family funeral to attend.
2. The whole situation can be resolved without me doing so.
3. The manner in which the investigations are being carried out are concerning, the police haven’t made an attempt to contact me despite numerous personal requests for them to do so.
Brewster suggests that the four customers provide their wallet addresses to the police, who can then forward this information to him. He has instructed a lawyer in Cyprus to facilitate this process.
Personal circumstances
Brewster’s reddit post, titled ‘The full picture from Danny Brewster’, continues by explaining a few facts about his personal circumstances.
It claims he had enough bitcoins in Mt. Gox to pay back all of Neo & Bee’s creditors in full, but now that the exchange has closed down, he does not have access to any of these funds.
He also confirms he bought a Bentley in December, which is still in Cyprus. He says he had planned to sell the car this summer, reinvesting the profit into Neo & Bee. Now he will sell the car and put the money towards satisfying the company’s creditors.
“I am concentrating first and foremost on resolving the issues with Cypriot police including my planned return to Cyprus. Only then I will concentrate all of my time on resolving everything surrounding Neo and Bee,” his post concludes.