Mark Cuban To Be Deposed Next Month in Voyager ‘Ponzi’ Suit

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will be deposed with two employees as he defends against a lawsuit likening Voyager to a Ponzi scheme

article-image

DFree/Shutterstock.com, modified by Blockworks

share

“Shark Tank” billionaire Mark Cuban is set to be deposed as part of a class-action lawsuit over his role in promoting failed crypto lender Voyager to millions of Americans.

A number of Voyager users filed the lawsuit in August, claiming both Cuban and Voyager CEO Steve Ehrlich encouraged them to invest with the alleged “deceptive” platform, which plaintiffs claim was a “massive Ponzi scheme.”

A deposition refers to the testimony of an individual conducted outside of court as part of the discovery process conducted prior to a trial. 

Cuban had requested a US judge to split the deposition process into two sessions. But a court filing dated Jan. 9 showed US magistrate judge Lisette Reid ordered him to do it in one sitting. He is now scheduled to be deposed in Dallas, Texas on Feb. 2.

The judge also ordered Pierce Robertson, Rachel Gold and Sanford Gold, three plaintiffs who brought the suit forward, to be deposed between Jan. 9 and Jan. 24.

Cuban’s professional basketball team the Dallas Mavericks was also named in the suit. Two team execs for corporate partnerships, Ryan Mackey and Kyle Tapply, will also be deposed before Feb. 23.

“Cuban and Ehrlich, as will be explained, went to great lengths to use their experience as investors to dupe millions of Americans into investing — in many cases, their life savings — into the Deceptive Voyager Platform,” the lawsuit read.

“As a result, over 3.5 million Americans have now all but lost over $5 billion in cryptocurrency assets.”

The suit further alleged that public support of Voyager by the Dallas Mavericks and Cuban showed they were targeting amateur investors with misleading promises of making large profits.

Cuban and Voyager didn’t return Blockworks’ requests for comment by press time. Voyager filed for bankruptcy in July after crumpling under exposure to now-defunct crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.


Don’t miss the next big story – join our free daily newsletter.

Tags

Upcoming Events

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Pack your bags, anon — we’re heading west! Join us in the beautiful Salt Lake City for the third installment of Permissionless. Come for the alpha, stay for the fresh air. Permissionless III promises unforgettable panels, killer networking opportunities, and mountains […]

MON - WED, MARCH 18 - 20, 2024

Crypto’s premier institutional conference returns to London in March 2024. The DAS: London Experience:  Attend expert-led panel discussions and fireside chats  Hear the latest developments regarding the crypto and digital asset regulatory environment directly from policymakers and experts   Grow your network […]

recent research

Pyth Cover.jpg

Research

Pyth is a low latency pull-based oracle. In a future that looks increasingly high frequency, with various alt L1s and L2s that have significantly shorter block times than Ethereum, and an explosion of “high-frequency” protocols such as oracle or CLOB perp DEXs, Pyth’s low latency oracle product looks much better positioned to capture a significant amount of market share in comparison to competitors.

article-image

It’s unclear what “actions” the CFTC, DOJ and Treasury will announce Tuesday afternoon

article-image

Some 18,000 accounts have already sent $27 million in crypto to a one-way bridge controlled by a Blast multisig

article-image

Telegram bots have seen a cumulative trading volume of over $4 billion

article-image

Avalanche has been inundated with transactions for inscriptions, similar to the Ordinals that already hit Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin

article-image

Like much of the tech world, crypto’s use of ChatGPT has been growing. Despite founder Sam Altman’s ouster, decentralized AI projects don’t seem ready to replace it

article-image

The allegations came in a new lawsuit filed by the US securities regulator on Monday