Mt.Gox Founder Unwilling to Answer Questions in U.S.

Cnet reports:

Mt. Gox founder Mark Karpeles is unwilling to travel to the US to answer questions later this week about the troubled Bitcoin exchange's US bankruptcy case, Mt. Gox lawyers told a federal judge on Monday.

Despite an order earlier this month by US Bankruptcy Judge Stacey Jernigan that requires Karpeles to appear Thursday in a US Bankruptcy Court in Dallas to address questions about the Tokyo-based exchange's closure, Karpeles was "not willing to travel to the U.S.," Mt. Gox attorneys wrote.

The filing cites a summons from the US Department of Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which has closely watched virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. That summons, which requires Karpeles to appear in Washington, DC, on Friday, "did not specify topics for discussion," Mt Gox lawyers wrote in the filing.

"Mr. Karpeles is now in the process of obtaining counsel to represent him with respect to the FinCEN Subpoena," the filing said. "Until such time as counsel is retained and has an opportunity to 'get up to speed' and advise Mr. Karpeles, he is not willing to travel to the U.S."

Mt. Gox's lawyers also said there was no guarantee that Karpeles would attend a May 5 deposition in the case.