e-Bullion was an Internet-based
digital gold currency
Digital gold currency (or DGC) is a form of electronic money (or digital currency) based on mass units of gold. It is a kind of representative money, like a US paper gold certificate at the time (from 1873 to 1933) that these were exchangeable ...
founded by
Jim and Pamela Fayed of Moorpark, California, as part of their Goldfinger Coin & Bullion group of companies. The company was incorporated in 2000 and launched on July 4, 2001. Similar to competing systems such as e-gold, e-Bullion allowed for the instant transfer of gold and silver between user accounts. e-Bullion was a registered legal corporate entity of Panama.
From 2001 to 2008 e-Bullion grew to have over one million users and substantial account transaction volume, and reserves of approximately 50,000 ounces of gold bullion. The company was a competitor to e-gold.com and goldmoney.com.
In 2008, co-founder, Pamela Fayed, was murdered, leading to the indictment, trial and conviction of her husband Jim Fayed for hiring her murder. Fayed was sentenced to death, and is currently on death row in California. As a result of the murder, the U.S. Government seized all of the assets of e-Bullion, resulting in the closure of the company in August 2008.
Features
E-Bullion simply provided a way for users to hold and transfer balances in gold and silver. The company also offered a
debit card to U.S. customers, which enabled them to convert their bullion balances to USD and withdraw at an
automated teller machine
An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, f ...
(ATM) or use it for debit purchases.
*e-Bullion provided its own in-house currency exchange service through Goldfinger Coin & Bullion, Inc. An e-Bullion account could be funded directly via
wire transfer
Wire transfer, bank transfer, or credit transfer, is a method of electronic funds transfer from one person or entity to another. A wire transfer can be made from one bank account to another bank account, or through a transfer of cash at a cash ...
from a bank account.
*e-Bullion was the first DGC to issue a debit card linked to an account.
*e-Bullion was the first DGC to use CRYPTOCard security tokens to protect user accounts from unauthorized access.
*Goldfinger Bullion Reserve Corporation, a sister company of e-Bullion, held the precious metals in bullion storage vaults located in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
, and at the Perth Mint in
Australia.
2008 Murder of e-Bullion Principal
The Fayeds had a troubled marriage which eventually led to divorce proceedings. During the divorce proceedings the Fayeds disputed over the partition of ownership of the Goldfinger companies, including e-Bullion.
On Monday July 28, 2008
Jim Fayed's estranged wife
Pamela Fayed was stabbed to death in a parking structure at 1875 Century Park East in
Century City
Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles, Century City is one o ...
, California. The crime occurred at 6:30PM in daylight and was overheard by numerous people who responded to the victim's screams. A surveillance camera recorded enough details for a rental car to be identified by
license plate
A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate ( Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identificati ...
and for a suspect description to be announced. She was due to appear that day in one of several ongoing legal meetings in her divorce from Jim Fayed and was reportedly attempting to stop him from moving or hiding some of the joint assets involved in e-Bullion. Fayed was in United States federal custody facing felony charges of conducting unlicensed money transactions via e-Bullion. Federal authorities seized $60,000 in cash, $24,000,000 in
gold bullion
A gold bar, also called gold bullion or gold ingot, is a quantity of refined metallic gold of any shape that is made by a bar producer meeting standard conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record keeping. Larger gold bars that are produce ...
and a
credit card
A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...
that allegedly was used to pay for the rental car that fled from the murder scene.
Fayed was prosecuted for capital murder, was found guilty at trial by a jury, and sentenced to death. He is currently imprisoned on death row in California.
The e-Bullion website was taken down on August 5, 2008. The site is now a simple mirror for this present Wikipedia article. Court papers filed by James Fayed as part of his divorce proceedings indicate that normal website operations would be impossible without his active oversight and direction.
After the arrest of Fayed, the US Attorney unsealed an indictment of e-Bullion and Goldfinger Coin & Bullion for failure to have a
money transmitter
In the legal code of the United States, a money transmitter or money transfer service is a business entity that provides money transfer services or payment instruments. Money transmitters in the US are part of a larger group of entities called m ...
license under the
USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appro ...
. Although the charges against the corporations were eventually dropped, the US Attorney's Office seized all of the assets of the Goldfinger companies, including the bullion backing e-Bullion.com from the Perth Mint and the Fayed's ranch in California. e-Bullion account holders have not been compensated by the U.S. Government for the confiscation of the bullion backing their accounts.
See also
*
Digital currency exchanger
A cryptocurrency exchange, or a digital currency exchange (DCE), is a business that allows customers to trade cryptocurrencies or digital currencies for other assets, such as conventional fiat money or other digital currencies. Exchanges may acce ...
*
PayPal
PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support online money transfers, and serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper ...
References
External links
Former e-Bullion official websiteInternet archive copies of e-Bullion website. Last version 23 June 2008
* ttp://dgcmagazine.com/ Digital Gold Currency Online Magazinebr>Fool's Gold
(FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
)
{{Digital gold currencies
Digital gold currencies
Defunct online companies of the United States