e-Bullion co-founder jailed on money transfer charge

James Fayed, the co-founder of e-Bullion, has been jailed after being charged with conducting unlicensed money transactions that allegedly netted $20 million worth of individuals' investments, according to Mark Aveis, an assistant U.S. attorney quoted on SFGate.com. Another article on The Los Angeles Times website this morning says Aveis described Fayed's businesses as Ponzi schemes.

Fayed is currently a suspect in the murder of his wife, Pamela Fayed, who was also a co-founder of e-Bullion. She was killed in a Los Angeles parking garage late last month. No one has been arrested in the murder case yet, but Aveis says James Fayed had a motive: killing her would prevent her from testifying in the case of the alleged unlicensed money transfer operation.

In a search of Fayed's house after his arrest last week, authorities seized $60,000, $3 million in gold bullion, and 25 weapons including assault rifles, according to Aveis.

At a hearing this week, Aveis claimed that Fayed was a flight risk and a danger to the community, but the judge ordered him released on $500,000 bond. The Times says Fayed remains in federal custody.

e-Bullion is one of several well-known "digital gold currency" firms. Using Internet transactions, DGC companies take customer deposits and match them with the equivalent amount of gold that is supposedly stored in vaults. Many of the companies are unregulated and/or incorporated in other countries to avoid U.S. financial laws and shield the identities of their clients. However, another GDC company, e-gold, recently vowed to tighten up its policies and submit to U.S. regulatory oversight after its founders pled guilty in a money laundering trial.

A message on the e-Bullion website on Tuesday afternoon said the site would be unavailable for four hours while staff performed "routine maintenance."

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

• e-Bullion's lawyer calls government's actions "extreme"
• e-Bullion update: Fayed's lawyers say feds seized $24 million in assets
• Why use e-Bullion? An investor explains
• Court papers indicate James Fayed had absolute control over e-Bullion
• Fayed indictment doesn't mention e-Bullion
• No comment from federal prosecutor in e-Bullion case
• Daughter seeks control of mother's ownership interest in e-Bullion
• Not all e-Bullion customers are worried by outage
• e-Bullion still down for "routine maintenance"
• e-Bullion co-founder jailed on money transfer charge
• Report: Feds investigating e-Bullion in fraud inquiry
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