Judge Orders Winklevoss Twins to Pay Shrem’s USD 45K Legal Fees

By Swati Kishore

American Internet entrepreneurs and investors, the Winklevoss Twins have reportedly been ordered to pay back legal fee which was incurred by Charlie Shrem. The fees of USD 45,000 was incurred by Shrem for a lawsuit that holds him responsible for failing to broker an array of crypto investments on behalf of Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

The order was filed in the District Court of New York’s Southern Constituency on Thursday, February 7, 2019.

The Judge ordered that Shrem is paid back for a previous ruling that enabled the plaintiffs to seize as much as USD 30 million of Shrem’s assets.

After the initial ruling was rolled back on November 8, 2018, Shrem filed a motion to recover the attorney fees and other related costs that were incurred to defend the motion.

The Winklevoss Capital’s lawyers debated that Shrem should not be paid back the fees because apparently he was charged an amount of only USD 5. However, the judge dismissed their idea and mentioned that the requested damages be decreased by 40%.

The Partner at Baker Marquart LLP, Brian Klein explained,

“We are glad that the judge ruled for Charlie and ordered WCF to reimburse him for legal fees he incurred in overturning WCF’s approximately $30 million attachment order. This is another big step towards his full vindication.”

This court filing comes amidst a slew of such lawsuits that are witnessing the ongoing battle between former business partners and crypto personalities.

The New York-based investment firm Winklevoss Capital had once invested in Shrem’s Bitcoin exchange startup, BitInstant. The crypto exchange eventually shut in 2013. It was later revealed that during his incumbency as the CEO, Shrem had reportedly violated the AML laws. He was required to serve a one-year prison sentence for the same.

The ongoing lawsuit’s trial has been scheduled for hearing in June this year.