- Michael Patryn, the co-founder of QuadrigaCX apparently has an extensive criminal record which includes fraud and burglary
- He had been born Omar Dhanani but changed his name twice after being imprisoned
- He claims he left the firm three years ago over a disagreement with Cotten about halting listing fees
Perhaps one of the most infamous firms in the cryptoverse today, QuadrigaCX’s woes seem to constantly make headlines both in and outside the space. They have been accused of being an exit scam, they were forced to file for creditor protection and their late CEO’s wife has asked for compensation for the funds she spent to achieve this.
In the midst of all of this, the company is now looked at as a textbook case of a cautionary tale for the industry and most of this can be boiled down to the fact that people simply do not trust them.
Unfortunately, the public has been given even more reason to be suspicious of the firm as it has come to light that one of their founders has an extensive criminal history which includes fraud and repeated changing of name to cover his tracks.
Checkered Past
The man at the center of this new controversy is Omar Dhanani, though he identifies as Michael Patryn. He had helped start QuadrigaCx with the late Gerry Cotten around five years ago, though he exited two years later.
Patryn has initially denied that he was Omar Dhanani in a Globe and Mail newspaper report and denied having any criminal past. Unfortunately for him, documents obtained by Bloomberg show that he not only has an extensive criminal record but has also changed his name twice; in 2003 and in 2008, he changed his name from Omar Dhanani to Omar Patryn and then to Michael Patryn. These name changes took place in the British Columbia district.
The crimes he had been convicted of took place in the United States, however, and included conspiracy to commit credit-and-bank card fraud in 2005 when he had helped create shadowcrew.com, a site where stolen credit card and bank card numbers were sold. He also pled guilty in 2007 for burglary, grand larceny, and computer fraud.
After serving his prison sentence, he was deported back to Canada where he started afresh as a blockchain entrepreneur and founded QuadrigaCx With Cotten. According to his testimony, he disagreed with the late Cotten about halting listing fees and this caused his decision to leave the firm.
“On the day of our disagreement, I left the company and ceased being privy to operational decisions,” he said. “Since that time, I have not been involved in the operations or management of any of the Quadriga companies.”
He also claims that he had heard from Cotten a few weeks before his death when he sent him a birthday card but didn’t know of his whereabouts until the announcement of his death.