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By Xavier Mohr
SLReports.net Well, this is a very interesting topic that I came across at Your2ndPlace.com, and thereafter researched at http://ossecondlife.com/apache2-default/. I noticed it has not been mentioned here as of yet. Seems we have another lawsuit threat on our hands with regard to Second Life finance. Arthur Burma, a self-proclaimed "significant depositer" at BNT Financial, has decided to band together with other BNTF depositors and sue IntLibber Brautigan six ways from Sunday.
Per the press release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
Arthur Burma
Eris Island
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INTENT TO FILE CLASS ACTION AGAINST BNT FINANCIAL San Francisco, California, February 25, 2008 - Arthur Burma is a significant depositor in Meta Bank, then My Second Bank, later acquired by BNT Holdings with significant deposits in Linden Dollars. Subsequent failures of the bank to honour withdrawal requests and return accurate records of deposit continued until Linden Lab prohibited the operation of ad-hoc banking in Second Life.
BNT has steadfastly denied access to depositors funds and failed to remit account balances to depositors after ceasing bank operations. BNT continues to operate and claim profits by posting un-audited financial statements, offering financial instruments for sale, soliciting investors in various entities, and brushing off bank depositors attempting to gain access to accounts.
It is our intention to form a class action against the owner and sole proprietor of BNT Financial on behalf of all persons who deposited Linden Dollars in any BNT Financial instrument during the class period. We intend to file in California Superior court, City and County of San Francisco.
We allege that BNT misrepresented the condition of the institution and perpetrated a ponzi scheme by taking deposits while restricting access to accounts and ignoring requests for records and adjustments. We will ask the court to order BNT to liquidate in world assets; repay depositors, pay the cost of litigation, and other punitive damages.
If you have ever banked at Meta Bank, My Second Bank, or BNT Financial; rented property, or obtained loans or funds from BNT you may be a member of the class and entitled to pro-rata disbursements obtained through litigation or settlement. We have created an in-world registration office where you can apply to be a member of the class. At the moment we only require your Second Life account name, assets at risk, and consent to participate. We would welcome any additional information and documentation on your experiences doing business with the various avatars associated with BNT Financial, M2B LLC, or any of the properties generally considered to be under the control of BNT staff. You can email this information
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or drop in-world note cards on Arthur Burma or Rorok Longstaff.
# # # For additional information or to schedule an in-world interview with Arthur Burma, Contact: Rorok Longstaff, Eris Island,
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Now, I know I sound a bit skeptical... and I am. Yet, I remain open to the possibility of this happening... so all you anti-BNT fanboys just chill out for a second. All I can say is I have been around the block with SL finance. I have seen probably a dozen similar threats posted in the past, and to date have not actually seen any lawsuits related to SL finance materialize in real life. This person may be completely serious, and just in a pre-filing stage of finding likeminded depositors... but with regard to this actually happening, put up or shut up. At some point, this person is going to have to release the REAL LIFE NAME of the REAL LIFE LAW FIRM that will be handling this case for me to be totally convinced. Otherwise, to me... this is just hot air like the post-Ginko, post-AllenVest, and post-Midas lawsuit threats. I don't think a media-shy, unnamed firm is going to file a lawsuit solely relying on IM interviews with anonymous avatars. And this time... please... no in-game Mexican lawyers, or (my favorite) "My attorney does not want me to post his information to the SL community." Any nugget of credibility that could be tossed to those interested in joining in would be much appreciated, I'm sure. It is also unclear – at least on my part – whether IntLibber Brautigan's recent BNTF depositor resolution plan will impact these plans going forward. We'll see what happens. ~ Xavier Mohr
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