FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[Melbourne, Florida, US] – e-gold Ltd (“EGL") is pleased to announce an important step taken today in the process it initiated to provide e-metal account holders with access to the value in their accounts.
EGL originally contacted the government in 2009 and offered to assist it in recovering proceeds from criminal activity believed to be engaged in by certain third-party account holders while at the same time ensuring the return of value to qualified account holders. This dialogue culminated in the development of a Value Access Plan (“VAP”) acceptable to EGL and the government.
Pursuant to the terms of the VAP, the government filed papers today to initiate the forfeiture of the value of all e-metal accounts, an important first step in the process of returning value to the e-metal account holders who satisfy certain specified requirements. The VAP provides a process to facilitate the forfeiture of proceeds of criminal activity in which certain third-party account holders are alleged to have been engaged. The VAP also sets forth a process to enable the return of value to e-metal account holders not alleged to have been involved in any illicit activity if they comply with EGL’s Customer Identification Program (“CIP”) requirements. The filing of today’s civil action marks an essential step in winding down the current e-metal system.
Further details of the VAP process will be posted on the EGL website as they are implemented.
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About EGL
EGL issued currencies backed by precious metals (“e-gold”, “e-silver, “e-platinum” and “e-palladium”; collectively “e-metals”). e-metal was integrated into a secure account-based payment system, operating globally 24/7, featuring instantaneous settlement with no chargeback risk, at lower cost. At its peak, EGL settled over 85M Spends and held physical gold reserves exceeding 2.5 metric tonnes. In compliance with the terms of a plea agreement between the Department of Justice and EGL, account holder activity has been restricted since October 2008.
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