Burwick Law wants a $440M crypto lawsuit served via NFT

Crypto legal firm Burwick Law wants a pub landlord turned Dubai property developer served with an NFT so it can officially start a lawsuit accusing him of stealing $440 million through a crypto-based Ponzi scheme. 

Peter McInnes, known as “Paddy,” is one of seven defendants facing a lawsuit filed by Burwick Law last December. 

Earlier this month, the firm requested to serve six of these hard-to-reach defendants via an NFT. According to The Times, McInnes has been in Dubai promoting his new venture, selling Banksy art. 

The law firm found a “possible match” that suggests McInnes is also the director of a UK-based firm called “Waste Consul LTD,” but concluded it would be pointless to serve his firm’s UK address since he’s in Dubai. 

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Burwick deemed airdropping an NFT directing the viewer to their complaint appropriate, “considering that the Ponzi scheme alleged in the complaint depended on promotions on social media and the sale of NFTs.”

One Florida judge in 2023 permitted an NFT-based serving that targeted the hacker behind a nearly-$1 million tether (USDT) theft.  

What’s the deal with McInnes? 

Burwick Law’s lawsuit alleges that over $450 million worth of investor funds were taken through two separate schemes over the course of a year.

First was TradeAI, a firm that promised investors substantial returns through high-yield crypto pools. 

The scheme collapsed, leaving investors unable to withdraw their funds. The firm blamed it on corporate negligence and other infrastructure lapses before it rebranded to Stakx, and solicited even more investments from the same alleged victims. 

McInnes founded UA3, the firm that would supposedly help TradeAI’s recovery efforts. The Times reports that in one instance, before investors would supposedly be paid back, McInnes filmed himself recovering from a heart attack in the bed of an eight-bedroom mansion in San José, Costa Rica.

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McInnes often bragged about his Banksy collection, and while running his schemes, had his own Stakx “Paddy syndicate” investment that was supposedly backed with the artist’s work and $20 million worth of supercars.

McInnes is also linked to a high-profile $247 million property development scheme in Liverpool that was promoted by the UK chancellor at the time. This project eventually filed for insolvency, and McInnes was levied with money laundering accusations, which he described as “misleading and untrue.”

McInnes’ representative claims he has proof of ownership for the Banksy art. They also claim he has no knowledge of the legal proceedings, has no involvement with TradeAI or UA3, and that he had no financial benefit through the Stakx scheme. 

It’s worth noting that Burwick Law’s case doesn’t allege fraud in this case, and specifically focuses on unregistered securities law, just as it does in its case against memecoin platform Pump Fun.

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