IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
WESTERN DIVISION

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services, Inc.; EHI Internetwork and Systems Management, Inc. aka EHI-INSM, Inc.; and Michael Alan Stollery aka Michael Stollaire, Civil Action No. 18-cv-4315 DSF (JPRx)

NOTICE OF CLAIMS PROCESS AND CLAIMS BAR DATE

This notice may affect your legal rights. Please read it carefully. Among other things, failure to timely submit a claim pursuant to the DIRECTIONS below may result in your claim being barred from a distribution

STATUS UPDATE 3/3/23:

The Receiver's distribution agent dispatched all USD checks on February 24, 2023 via first class United States Postal Service. Please allow a few weeks for the check to arrive; however, if you do not receive your check by March 24, 2023, reach out to us by emailing tbis@hklaw.com.

As a reminder, the Court-Ordered deadline to submit a claim was August 11, 2021, and as of February 24, 2023, the Receiver has completed Distributions to all Allowed Claims. As a result, the Receiver is not accepting any additional claim submissions. For more information, please refer to the Receiver's Claims Process Motion (DE 94 and 98) and Distribution Plan (DE 107-1) located at http://tbis.io/CourtFilings.htm.

STATUS UPDATE 2/15/23:

Following the Court's Order granting the Receiver's Distribution Motion, the Receiver set the "Distribution Date" as February 1, 2023. As prescribed by the Distribution Plan, at approximately 10:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on the Distribution Date, the Receiver calculated the total value of the Available Cryptocurrency Assets. Based on this value, the Receiver determined that each Investor Claimant should receive approximately 91% of their Allowed Amounts ("Pro Rata Share").

On the Distribution Date, the Receiver and his team executed the ether distributions to all Allowed Claimants who selected an ETH preference. If you selected USD check or failed to timely complete your Distribution Election, your USD payment is currently being processed by the Receiver's distribution agent. This agent estimates that all checks should be mailed out by next week. Please note, all USD payments are based on the same 91% Pro Rata Share as ETH payments.

Lastly, the Receiver's distribution agent requested the dates of birth from a few Claimants; all of which have successfully provided such information. Therefore, no additional Claimants are required to submit their dates of birth at this time.

STATUS UPDATE 1/30/23:

On January 25, 2023, the Court entered an Order granting the Receiver's Distribution Motion in all respects. A copy of the Order can be found at this link (DE 120 Order Approving Distribution Motion.pdf).

Namely, the Court authorized the Receiver to execute the Distribution to both Investor and Non-Investor Claimants within the next 45 days. In other words, the Distribution will occur sometime between today and March 11, 2023. As stated in the Order, the actual amount distributed to each claimant will be determined on the Distribution Date.

Accordingly, please do not email the Receiver asking about the Distribution Date or distribution amounts, as the Receiver is working to assure Distribution occurs as soon as possible. Any such inquiries will be redirected to this website posting.

Once the Distribution is complete, notice will both be posted on the website and sent via email to all Allowed Claimants. For further details on how this Distribution will work, please refer to the Receiver's Distribution Plan and Distribution Motion located at: http://tbis.io/CourtFilings.htm.

STATUS UPDATE 1/13/23:

On January 4, 2023, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filed a Non-Opposition to the Receiver's proposed Distribution Motion.

On Monday, January 9, 2023, the Receiver emailed the Distribution Motion, the SEC's filing, and a Distribution Notice to all Allowed Claimants. The Distribution Notice served two purposes: (1) to notify you that the Distribution Motion has been filed with the Court, and (2) to inform you that all Allowed Claimants will have until January 24, 2023 to object to the Distribution Motion. Notably, Allowed Claimants may only object to the Distribution Motion on the grounds that the proposed distribution violates the Distribution Plan or the Claims Procedure Order. Allowed Claimants who elect to make a submission must email their objection to tbisobjections@hklaw.com and specifically state the section of the Distribution Plan that has been violated and explain the grounds for the alleged violation.

Additionally, due to multiple questions about the timeline for distribution, we offer the following clarification. The timing and process is clearly described in the Distribution Motion posted on our website (DE 116 Notice and Motion for Approval.pdf). The actual distribution will be made within 45 days following the entry of an Order by the Court approving the Distribution Motion. The Distribution Motion is currently set to be heard by the Court on January 30, 2023.

Lastly, today, the Receiver filed a Reply in Support of the Distribution Motion. Its goal was two-fold: (1) notice the Court of a single, unresolved objection from Claimant Ming Zheng; and (2) inform it that this objection should in no way inhibit or delay its ability to grant the Distribution Motion in all respects. The related filings may be found: http://tbis.io/CourtFilings.htm.

STATUS UPDATE 12/30/22:

The Receiver has filed the Distribution Motion with the Court. You can find the filing here: http://tbis.io/CourtFilings.htm.

As detailed in the Distribution Motion, the Receiver presently anticipates a 69% pro rata distribution amount. You may check Exhibit 3 of the Distribution Motion to see how this affects your claim. Please note that the 69% value is tentative and may change by the time of distribution for the reasons explained in the Distribution Motion.

A specific distribution date is not yet available, as it will be dependent upon the Court's review of the Distribution Motion. Additional details regarding the distribution will be provided here when available.

STATUS UPDATE 12/16/22:

Over the last two weeks, more than 90% of allowed claims have submitted their elections. Today, December 16, 2022, is the deadline to submit your Distribution Election. Please follow the instructions included in your Distribution Election Letters, which was sent to the email addresses on file.

As a reminder, please use extra caution and verify that that the Selected Address is typed correctly because, as stated in the Distribution Plan, the Receiver and its Released Professionals shall not bear any liability for distributions made to wallet addresses that contain errors made by claimants. This includes circumstances where the form may contain a typographical error. Therefore, whether you selected a Validated Address or manually entered one, this is your final opportunity to confirm that the Selected Address is written correctly. Additionally remember that, once the distribution is made to your Selected Address, the transaction is final and cannot be reversed.

Pursuant to the Court-approved Distribution Plan, if you fail to make a distribution election by December 16, 2022, your claim will be mailed via check to the mailing address associated with your claim or via ETH to a validated wallet address associated with your claim, subject to the discretion of the Receiver. As a result, if you have a particular preference between ETH or USD, you must submit the election form online.

The Distribution Motion is nearly finalized, and the Receiver anticipates filing it within the next two weeks. Once it is filed, the documents will be uploaded to our Court filings page located at: http://tbis.io/CourtFilings.htm.

STATUS UPDATE 12/2/22:

As of this afternoon, the Receiver has sent all Distribution Election Letters, via email, to each claimant's primary email address that was listed in the original claim submission. If you previously received a notice of determination and it include an allowed amount, you should have received this letter. If not, please check your junk and clutter folders. If you still cannot locate the email, please reach out to us at TBISElections@hklaw.com.

Please use extra caution and verify that that the Selected Address is typed correctly because, as stated in the Distribution Plan, the Receiver and its Released Professionals shall not bear any liability for distributions made to wallet addresses that contain errors made by claimants. This includes circumstances where the form may contain a typographical error. Therefore, whether you selected a Validated Address or manually entered one, this is your final opportunity to confirm that the Selected Address is written correctly. Additionally remember that, once the distribution is made to your Selected Address, the transaction is final and cannot be reversed.

Pursuant to the Court-approved Distribution Plan, you will have 14 calendar days from today to submit your selection. Accordingly, December 16, 2022 is the last day to submit your elections. If you fail to make a selection within such time, the default payment method will be ether sent to one of your Validated Addresses. If you do not have any Validated Addresses, for whatever reason, you will be sent a USD Check to the mailing address listed on your original claim submission.

For a detailed explanation of the upcoming distribution procedures and calculations, please refer to the Distribution Plan located at http://tbis.io/CourtFilings.htm. The Receiver is preparing a forthcoming Distribution Motion that will disclose each Investor and Non-Investor Allowed Amounts, and the actual pro rata share that will be distributed to each claimant.

STATUS UPDATE 11/18/22:

The Receiver has completed his review of all remaining claim submissions, and at this point, all claimants should have received a notice of determination. If you have not received your notice of determination, please reach out to us at tbis@hklaw.com.

Additionally, on November 16, 2022, the United States Central District of California issued an Order granting the Stipulation to Modify the Asset Freeze, authorizing the transfer and release of Stollaire's ether to the Receiver. The following day, the Receiver's team met with a potential distribution agent to coordinate this transfer and discuss the upcoming distribution. Once this distribution procedure is finalized, the Receiver will email the Distribution Election letters to all claimants with allowed notices of determination.

We will post an announcement on the website as soon as the emailed letters are sent.

STATUS UPDATE 11/4/22:

The Receiver has completed his review of claims requiring a manual analysis of certain circumstances, such as multiple addresses, exchanges, and/or other cryptocurrency transactions that are not verifiable on the public Ethereum blockchain. As a result, more than 400 notices of determination were sent out in October, and with the exception of a small number of late submissions and determination objections, all claims have been processed and all notices of determination transmitted.

While the Receiver works to finalize the few remaining outstanding claims, he is contemporaneously preparing a Distribution Election form, which will allow claimants to select whether they wish to be paid in ETH or USD Check. This election form will be sent, in a letter, via email toall claimants who received a notice of determination with an allowed amount. The email will have instructions on how to make your selection through our online web form. For security purposes, if you elect to receive your distribution via ETH, you may only select an address that you previously validated during the claims process. Additional information will be included in your letter.

The Receiver anticipates that this letter will be emailed in the next two weeks or so; therefore, please monitor your email inboxes regularly. The letters will be sent to the primary email that you used to submit your claim, and you will have 14 days to complete the election. In the event no selection is made within the allotted time, the default selection will be payment in ETH sent to one of your validated addresses. If you do not have any validated addresses, for whatever reason, you will be sent a check (in USD) to the mailing address listed on your claim submission. We will also publish a notice on the website once the letters are sent.

Going forward, we will begin posting (here) bi-weekly status updates on the progress of the claims/distribution processes. These updates will begin this week, and continue until distributions are complete. In an effort to prioritize our goal of making the initial distributions by the end of this year, the only direct messages we will be addressing are questions or issues with an individual's claim; otherwise, all general inquiries will be redirected to our website for updates.

STATUS UPDATE 6/28/22:

To date, we have received more than one thousand claim submissions and the Receiver has sent out approximately 650 notices of determination.

The vast majority of remaining claims are missing information or were otherwise incorrectly submitted. We will be sending out a 15-day notice to give claimants one final opportunity to resolve any deficiencies in their claim submission. The next round of notices are anticipated to be sent out in mid-July. Thereafter, we will send the final batch of notices of determination for those claims that do not require further manual review. In the meantime, we will continue working through claims that require manual review; these claims submissions are typically more tedious (and time consuming) because they often involve multiple addresses, exchanges, and/or other cryptocurrency transactions that are not verifiable on the Ethereum blockchain.

The Receiver anticipates that he should be able to initiate the distribution process for investors this upcoming Fall.

The Receiver filed a Motion for Approval of Receiver’s Distribution Plan, which has been approved by the Court. Click here to view the approved Distribution Plan.

To Potential Claimant:

On May 30, 2018, the above-captioned Court entered an Order appointing Josias Dewey as Receiver for the estate of Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services (“TBIS Estate”). On August 21, 2020, the Court entered an Order authorizing the Claims Process and Bar Date, as modified December 15, 2020. Copies of these orders and other information regarding this case are available on the TBIS Receivership website at https://tbis.io/.

You are receiving this Notice because our records indicate you may hold a claim against the TBIS Estate. Receiving this Notice does not mean that you hold a claim or that your claim will be eligible for a distribution from the TBIS Estate.

The TBIS Fraud

As alleged by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Titanium President Michael Alan Stollery, a/k/a Michael Stollaire, lied about business relationships with the Federal Reserve and dozens of well-known firms for purposes of promoting an Initial Coin Offering (“ICO”).  Titanium’s website contained fabricated testimonials from these supposed corporate customers. These fraudulent statements were used to promote the ICO, which Stollaire advertised through videos and social media. The SEC's complaint charged Stollaire and Titanium with violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5(a) and 10b-5(c) thereunder. The complaint charged another Stollaire company, EHI Internetwork and Systems Management Inc., with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rules 10b-5(a) and 10b-5(c) thereunder.

Eligible Claimants and Claims Process

You may be eligible to submit a claim if you:

(i) are a creditor of Titanium;

(ii) directly purchased Titanium Bar (“BAR”) or TBAR from Titanium;

(iii) purchased BAR from a third party (other than Titanium) prior to February 22, 2018, held such BAR through February 22, 2018, received TBAR from Titanium by virtue of your BAR holdings, and held such TBAR through May 29, 2018; or

(iv) purchased TBAR from a third party (other than Titanium) prior to May 29, 2018 and held such TBAR through May 29, 2018.

How Do I Submit a Claim?

The deadline for submitting a claim to the TBIS Estate was 11:59 p.m. (Pacific Time) on August 11, 2021. The online claim filing system is now closed. Individuals or entities with further questions should direct their correspondence to the Receiver at tbis@hklaw.com.

Deadline for Submitting Claims

Notice is hereby given that all people with potential claims for recovery from the TBIS Estate should file their claim with the Receiver so that it is actually submitted on the Receiver’s online claim system, by 11:59 p.m. (Pacific Time) on August 11, 2021 (the “Bar Date”).  Claims should be filed electronically through this online claim system.

Individuals or entities that believe they have good cause to either extend the Bar Date or to submit their claim by other means should request this from the Receiver at tbis@hklaw.com no later than the Bar Date. Unless a claim is subject to a Receiver-granted exception, all claims against TBIS Estate assets that are not received by the Bar Date are barred.

Frequently Asked Questions

A link to FAQ’s with respect to the Claim Process can be found here.

A link to step-by-step instructions for setting up MetaMask for the token validation process can be found here.

TBIS Receivership Update – January 17, 2022

Notices of Determination

Except for a small number of claims, all validated claimants should have received a notice of determination. If you have not received a notice, we will be contacting you directly by email to obtain additional information about one or more transactions that affect the calculation of your claim. If you have not received a notice of determination and we do not contact you for additional information before the close of business on Friday, January 21, 2022, then please email tbis@hklaw.com. Please make sure to include “Notice of Determination Pending” and you claim number in the subject line of the e-mail.

Objections to Initial Determinations

If you already filed an objection to your initial notice of determination, we expect to provide an initial response to your objection on or before January 28, 2022. Please disregard the 60-day requirement to file an objection with the court set out in your notice of determination. We are extending that deadline to the date that is thirty (30) days after the date we notify you of our decision to accept or deny (in whole or in part) your objection.

Payment of Claims in ETH

A number of claimants have communicated to us a desire to receive their awards in the form of ETH, and as a result, we have incorporated a mechanism in our proposed plan of distribution to permit payment of claim awards to token purchasers in ETH. Please note that the plan of distribution must still be approved by the court (see below on status).

Plan of Distribution

We have completed a draft plan of distribution, which we will be transmitting to the SEC on Tuesday (as today is a U.S. holiday) for review and comment. Our goal is to incorporate any feedback from the SEC by the end of next week and file the plan with the court immediately thereafter. Once filed, we will upload a copy of the submitted plan of distribution to the tbis.io website. We expect that it will take the court at least a few weeks to consider and rule on the proposed plan of distribution. During this period of time, we expect to finish resolving any outstanding claims. For those who wish to receive their award in ETH, you do not need to do anything at this time. Prior to any distributions, we will set up a procedure for individual claimants to choose how they wish to receive their award; and for those who elect to receive ETH (again, assuming our plan of distribution is approved by the court), a secure means for those claimants to communicate a wallet address to receive their award.

 

Receiver Contact Information:

Josias “Joe” Dewey

 

E-mail: tbis@hklaw.com

  

Direct: (305) 789-7746

 

Court Documents:

 

You may access here a copy of the Order Appointing Receiver that was entered on May 30, 2018 by the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

A link to the SEC’s latest press release regarding Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services, Inc. can be found here.

An update can be found in the Receiver’s Initial Status Report, here.

Lastly, links to the Receivership Court Filings can be found, here.

 

PLEASE NOTE, NEITHER THE RECEIVER, NOR ANY AFFILIATE OF THE RECEIVER, WILL EVER ASK YOU TO TRANSFER POSSESSION OF ANY CRYPTOCURRENCY (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE “CONTROL TOKEN” REFERENCED IN THE ONLINE CLAIMS SYSTEM) OR DISCLOSE ANY PASSWORD(S) OR PRIVATE KEY(S) FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER. PLEASE CONTACT THE RECEIVER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU ARE PROMPTED FOR SUCH INFORMATION IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR POTENTIAL CLAIM.