Seizing Ill-Gotten Gains

Skip Oceanlane handed me a press release earlier which I only now got to. It is related to Merlin's Investment Bank Going Under, and it is interesting, to say the least:

IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE: October 20, 2007 7:24 AM EST: - My name is Skip Oceanlane, and I have served in the capacity of Vice-President of Merlin’s Investment Bank. I'd like to give everyone an update of events as of Saturday morning Eastern Time.

As I previously stated , no one can still make withdrawals from their accounts, and Certificate of Deposits (vaults) that come due are not being paid to customers. Nothing has changed and everyone's Lindens are still not available, and Investor Merlin has not replied as to when/if our Lindens would ever be returned.

I do have some good news to report. It has been reported that Investor Merlin purchased stocks on SLCapex and the WSE with Lindens obtained from MIBank depositors. After contacting the owners of each of these stock exchanges, they graciously placed "holds" on Investor Merlin's stocks until this issue can be resolved.

Know that one exchange is leaving the door open for the possibility of Investor Merlin selling the stocks he purchased fraudulently, unless I can prove fraud. The definition I was given is: "the fraud is evedent when he has left sl for a long period of time or when he isn't willing to talk with customers." It is my hope that after 2 weeks, if nothing has changed, this exchange will rule in our favor in this extraordinary case.

I am working with both exchanges to get these Lindens back for you. Please note that even if I am successful in this, the compensation to you is going to much smaller than what you originally deposited, but at least it's something. Investor Merlin would profit much less from his fraudulent activity if our action is successful.

If anyone knows of any other assets Investor Merlin has in SL, please contact me as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Is this an appropriate response for stock exchanges? I think so; since Second Life infrastructure does not allow a business entity to collect funds in a manner other than through an avatar, it stands to reason that in the case of fraud the stock exchanges which wish to be credible would have to take some course of action.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It would be even more interesting if [w:Linden Lab] allowed users of Second Life better control in such scenarios.