Banq alleges founder stole assets to start crypto custodian Fortress
Banq Inc, a subsidiary of Prime Trust, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Nevada. Its bankruptcy plan alleges executive mismanagement surrounding a failed pivot to NFTs and unlawful transfer of corporate assets to a competitor. The plan alleges that in May 2021, former Prime Trust and Banq CEO Scott Purcell decided to pivot Banq away from payments and instead focus on NFTs. This was apparently done without seeking the approval of the board of directors. Then, in December 2021, Purcell allegedly notified the shareholders that they would no longer be focusing on NFTs after Apple limited NFT-related applications in its app store. That same month, Purcell resigned from Banq, along with the company’s CTO Kevin Lehtiniitty and general counsel George Georgiades. Several months earlier, in September 2021, the trio had formed Fortress NFT Group (part of the Fortress group of companies that now operates Fortress Trust). Banq alleges in its bankruptcy plan that Purcell ...