‘Bitcoin inventor’ referred to prosecutors over perjury claims

The self-proclaimed “inventor of Bitcoin” was referred to prosecutors on charges of perjury after he was found to have forged documents and lied to the Supreme Court.

In a ruling released on Tuesday, Australian computer scientist Craig Wright was accused of committing “collective perjury and document forgery” to support his false claim that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of the cryptocurrency.

Judge James Mellor said he would refer the case to the Prosecution Service (CPS) which would then decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for Mr Wright.

In his decision, Judge Mellor wrote: “Unless what happened in this case warrants a referral to the CPS, it is difficult to envisage a case that would.”

Mr Wright claimed for years that he was the author of the 2008 whitepaper behind Bitcoin and has sued skeptics around the world for defamation. However, it was revealed during a five-week trial earlier this year that he had “extensively and repeatedly lied to the court”.

The court found 47 instances of fraud during the hearings, with Mr Wright relying on fake emails and technical documentation to claim he invented Bitcoin; Bitcoin is currently valued at $48,800.

Judge Mellor said it was likely that the frauds uncovered during the case were “just the tip of the iceberg”.

A group of cryptocurrency companies and developers (the Crypto Open Patent Alliance) had sued Mr Wright over an intellectual property dispute over whether the Australian had lied about inventing Bitcoin.

The judge said Mr Wright had used forgery “on a massive scale” to support his biggest lie: “his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto”. He found Mr Wright had committed a “very serious abuse” of court processes in the UK, Norway and the US.

Those who challenged Wright’s lies have been sued in courts around the world, hounded by private investigators, subjected to online harassment by fans and paid millions of dollars in legal fees, the judge said.

The judge accused Wright of running a “sinister and mendacious campaign” against critics and issued an injunction against him barring further legal action over claims that he is Nakamoto or helped invent Bitcoin.

He also ordered Mr Wright to post an announcement of the findings of the case on his personal website and social media channels.

In March, Justice Mellor wrote that Mr Wright “shows himself to be a highly intelligent person… But in my judgment he is not as intelligent as he thinks he is”.

Perjury can result in a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a fine.

Mr Wright’s lawyers declined to comment. The CPS has been contacted for comment.

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