CAPANNORI. «Bitcoin Point Srl has never collected or managed money from customers/investors and is a creditor of Swag International for 181,763 euros». Alfredo Petroni, liquidator of the company which was based on via Pesciatina in Lunata, specifies the role of the Srl with respect to the investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office opened after the complaint of a pensioner for the loss of 50 thousand euros in an investment in bitcoin. «The payments referred to in the article were made directly to third parties (Swag OU and subsequently Swag International), legally distinct from our company – explains Petroni -. The “Bitcoin Point” operated as an information and promotional point as part of a franchising relationship with Swag, for which Bitcoin Point Lucca paid annual fees. It did not carry out financial intermediation activities, it did not store funds, it did not have access to customer accounts nor could it “block/unblock” accounts or withdrawals.”
The liquidator notes, in clarifying the company’s activity, that «Bitcoin Point Lucca Srl was, in turn, a victim of the Swag affair. The closure of the business is a consequence of Swag International’s failure to comply with the contractual economic commitments undertaken; to date, Bitcoin Point Lucca Srl is a creditor towards Swag International for 181,763 euros, an amount ratified by the bankruptcy trustee as part of the procedure. Passages such as “he had relied on the Bitcoin point” and “local reference of the investment”, read without the necessary clarifications, lead the reader to believe that the local point had a role in the collection and/or management of the funds. This interpretation does not correspond to reality and risks attributing, even if only implicitly, operational responsibilities to subjects who had no control over the financial flows or the Swag platforms/services”.
