Chris Principe sues over lost Skyway Capital PR deal ($75,000+)
Chris Principe had a budding career going in to bat for MLM underbelly Ponzi schemes.
Having already enjoyed exposure of his Financial IT magazine for running a cover story on OneCoin and speaking at a company event, Principe was cozying up to Skyway Capital for his next gig.
Like OneCoin, Skyway Capital is also a Ponzi scheme.
Despite this, Skyway Capital pulled the pin on Principe’s deal after they became aware of his previous connection to OneCoin.
Skyway did not want to be associated with Principe because of the adverse effect it would have on Skyway’s business, reputation and ability to find investors.
In 2017, Skyway canceled its agreement with Principe because Skyway found statements … on the Internet linking Principe directly as a promoter of a Ponzi scheme and (Skyway Capital) did not want to be associated with Principe.
Talk about irony…
Now, in an April 4th lawsuit in which he claims losses in excess of $75,000, Principe is out for blood.
What’s particularly remarkable about Principe’s lawsuit is the acknowledgement of financial losses when Skyway Capital terminated their deal, but insistence he didn’t make anything from endorsing OneCoin.
Neither Ms. Ignatova nor OneCoin Ltd. paid Plaintiff or Financial IT for that cover and article.
Principe was not paid for that speech by Ms. Ignatova or OneCoin Ltd.
Neither Ms. Ignatova nor OneCoin Ltd. has ever paid Plaintiff or Financial IT for any publication, speech or support.
OneCoin are notorious for operating shell companies to launder money through. There any number of companies or individuals Principe could have been received compensation from OneCoin through.
Does Principe really expect people to believe he wasn’t compensated at all?
Especially when he’s claiming damages as a result of losing the Skyway Capital contract, which sounds awfully similar to the OneCoin gig.
In his own words, when Principe was first approached about OneCoin he dismissed it as ‘either a scam or pyramid scheme‘. So why then would he agree to publish a PR fluff-piece in Financial IT and appear at a OneCoin event?
The defendant in Principe’s lawsuit is Timothy Curry (aka Tim Tayshun), a staunch critic of OneCoin.
Citing numerous examples of Curry calling out Principe’s relationship with questionable businesses, Principe claims
Curry knew (his) statements were false.
Curry’s statements cause Principe to be shunned or avoided (and) expose (him) to hatred, contempt, ridicule or obloquy because they challenge his business ethics, accuse him of a crime, and falsely claim he is associated or affiliated with a criminal enterprise.
Note that Principe doesn’t dispute OneCoin is a “criminal enterprise”, his objection lies solely with being (allegedly falsely) associated or affiliated with it.
Principe states that prior to getting involved in OneCoin, he enjoyed ‘a good reputation both generally and in his occupation‘.
He blames Curry for his current predicament and claims he’s ‘been forced to pay an outside consultant to help repair the damage to (his) reputation‘.
As a proximate result of these statements, Principe has been damaged because Principe lost clients, business, potential clients and income in excess of $75,000.
Curry’s statements had the effect of discouraging businesses from dealing with Principe, by lowering the reputation of Principe, and deterring other businesses from dealing with him.
Far be it from me to point out the obvious, but surely Principe getting into bed with Ponzi schemes is the root cause of the problem here?
Pointing out, analyzing and commenting on the relationship that Principe has/had with OneCoin and Skyway Capital is defamatory how?
Where Principe’s lawsuit will end remains to be seen. From the sounds of it though, Curry already has a game plan in place;
The accusations are frivolous and I can not only support, but HEAVILY EXPOUND upon the justification for anything I’ve ever written about Principe.
I additionally have quite a bit of fun “Discovery” to challenge him on, in addition to having emailed and phoned his offices many times last year seeking direct correspondence with him, prior to further observing and investigating him thereafter.
A deposition would probably clear up whether Principe received compensation from OneCoin via anyone or in any form quick smart.
As for the busted Skyway Capital deal, I’d suggest they pulled the plug because of the scrutiny. For obvious reasons, Ponzi schemes don’t like being publicly scrutinized.
OneCoin is probably the biggest MLM Ponzi scheme in operation today. I’d opine Skyway Capital didn’t to take on the exposure Principe’s prior relationship with OneCoin brought on.
A final thought I’ll leave you with, begins with a read of the accolades Principe bestows upon himself in his lawsuit (verbatim).
- given numerous speeches and presentations, as well as trainings and workshops, throughout the world
- written over thirty published articles in the transaction banking, finance and technology arena
- is the official Trade Finance Trainer for the certificate program of Florida International University and Florida International Banking Association (FIBA) since 2012
- was Chairman of the Banker’s Association for Finance and Trade (BAFTA) and the International Financial Services Association (IFSA) National Trade Services Product Management Committee from January 2009 to December 2013
- the Founding Chairman of the IFSA Financial Supply Chain Committee in February 2008
- an owner and publisher of Financial IT, an online and print resource for Financial Technology market analysis
How then has Principe failed to see the Ponzi forest for the trees, not once now… but twice?
Stay tuned…
Update 12th April 2018 – As per a March 30th agreement, a settlement between Chris Principe and Tim Curry has been reached.
No updates on the Gerlach Report Macau situation yet.
Either there really is an investigation in Macau or the event will go ahead and Gerlach Report will be mercilessly mocked by OneCoin affiliates.
I’m still personally 50/50 on whether Macau authorities have anything planned.
Other than being chosen as a neutral territory to host events, OneCoin doesn’t have any operations in Macau.
I’m finding it hard to believe police there would be interested in arrests when the local population getting scammed is probably next to nothing.
Regarding my quote: “in addition to having emailed and phoned his offices many times last year selling (sic) direct correspondence with him…”
That’s my phone’s autocorrect again, which you should all know me by. The correct word should be “seeking“.
if the macau police wanted to arrest anybody, they would have done it already, seeing that ruja ignatova, sebastian greenwood and other top brass is already there.
macau police is hardly going to make arrests at the main event tomorrow in an enclosed space with thousands of spectators, because that would be dangerous safety wise.
i think the gerlach report has misreported [intentionally or otherwise]. if there was even the minutest hint of trouble, ignatova would not have gone to macau at all.
IMO, the indian EOW contacted china who in turn contacted macau, but it all came to naught because it’s hard to enforce actions in independent jurisdictions and macau probably has no onecoin complaints to act on.
Well it’ll be interesting to see what the Gerlach Report publishes after the event if nothing happens.
I’ll have to cover it because I wrote about the initial report. Not a fan of “fake news” myself so there better be a good explanation otherwise!
did he respond to you clarifying that he had received no payments from onecoin and that you should stop defaming him in that regard?
onecoin has had a lot of coverage on the internet, and is widely called out as a ponzi scheme, with many govt warnings and bans on it.
despite this, chris principe published a fluff piece about onecoin and spoke at onecoin events. any ‘reasonable person’ could allege that principe had received payments for promoting onecoin in this fashion, and that is not an allegation based on malice, but rather reasonable logical analysis.
how will principe prove ‘actual malice’ by tim curry? even if curry favors bitcoin, his allegations against principe did not help bitcoin prices to go up. onecoin is not a competitor of bitcoin because it’s not even publicly tradeable.
how will principe prove that tim curry ‘intentionally’ wanted to hurt his business? what motive can he prove?
defamation without actual malice or a purposeful lie is protected by free speech.
In reading Chris’ list of achievements, one would think if Tim had such a “negative effect” on his reputation, that the University would have cancelled their contract with him in regard to his official Trade Finance Trainer for the certificate program of Florida International University and Florida International Banking Association (FIBA) since 2012.
Also can Chris show loss of readership or cancellation of subscriptions to his magazine due to Tim’s negative articles about him?
If not, he will be hard pressed to prove Tim has damaged his “reputation.” He seems to be hanging his lawsuit on just what happened in Skyway.
I think Chris is going to be shocked when the Discovery process begins and isn’t going to like the questions he is going to have to answer and the financial information he will be required to provide to Tim.
It will be easy to see which entity paid him for his time and trouble with OneCoin. Surely his lawyer knows this, but hey as long as he pays him and the check clears, he will file anything. Winning is a different story.
Principe also didn’t get paid to put Ruja on the cover of his other magazine “FinFuture,” right? Maybe he considers it philanthropy to support the good “Dr.” …. errr…”Ms.” …Ignatova’s One Worldz Foundation “charity.”
Personally, I think Mr Principe, rather than winding back his lawsuit, should accelerate and expand it.
I am sure current and future customers will be happy in the knowledge Principe won’t hesitate to drag their names into the public arena in an effort to defend his activities.
Streisand effect, what the h*** is a Streisand effect ???
@Tim:
Good Luck Tim. You will manage brilliantly.
Ruja and Co cant go on forever defending their Scam by using the law.
It will strike back very hard on them.Sooner rather than later they will be forced to Open Up.We all know what that means,and it doesnt matter what ever news they come up with in Macau.
principe just loves anything ruja does. if she makes a cryptocurrency he puts in on the cover of his magazine. if she does charity he puts it on the cover of his other magazine. if she holds an event he flies out to give a speech.
in fact he loves ruja soooo much that he actually printed a extra edition of his financial IT magazine, just because he wanted the world to know about ruja’s onecoin.
usually financial IT has four publications in an year, but in feb,2016 it got published an extra time just to carry ruja’s onecoin to the world.
https://behindmlm.com/companies/onecoin/ignatova-does-it-again-another-fake-magazine-cover/
looking at financial IT, chris principe’s and onecoins behavior^^ any reasonable person would could allege that financial IT/chris principe had taken payment for the out-of-turn complimentary coverage of onecoin.
I came across Ken Labine’s latest video on Tim Tayshun, where he has a whinge about Tayshun calling Renata’s phone.
This struck me as hypocritical, as I have it on direct authority Labine harassed an individual’s wife to no end after he publicly spoke up about OneCoin.
Due to a gentlemen’s agreement I’m not naming the individual in question, but rest assured Labine’s outrage is feigned.
i appreciate that tim tayshun is doing great work in exposing the [possibly] largest MLM ponzi in the world today, especially since he understands bitcoin technology and can thus show onecoin up for the fraud it is.
it is also important not to cross any lines inadvertently, in our personal passion for a cause.
making repeated personal calls to family members of those involved in a ponzi crime is a bit over the top, even if the intention is honest. policing/warning people is the job of regulatory agencies and the police, not common citizens.
concerned citizens can blog about it, comment about it, inform regulators, run support groups, litigate etc, but should not be calling the perpetrators directly with warnings/threats.
we have to be careful not to cross any lines of common decency or privacy, otherwise we just arm these ponzi scammers with ammo to deflect from the real issues.
i would advise tim tayshun not to make this battle too personal, or call up people uninvited. leave your number and request them to call you back if interested, and leave it at that.
i hope tim tayshun will accept my opinion as constructive criticism.
Drop it, Principe! You will damage your reputation even more, whats left of it….
Ari Widell up with an informative articel.
kusetukset.blogspot.com.tr/
i found this bit very interesting, widell writes:
this is the part of principe’s complaint where he states he is the owner and publisher of financial IT:
the media kit on financial IT’s website has no heading for ‘owner’ or ‘publisher’ but records a ‘founder’:
i have written to financial IT asking for the exact relation it has with chris principe at the current time.
@annali
I believe I have cached images also showing that between the original January issue and the following January issue reprint with switched cover/ 2-page ADVERtorial, their media kit also increased it’s distribution numbers significantly.
I’ll have to check my files, so don’t quote me on this yet, but I believe the circulation was increased from just 1500 (subscribers?) to a circulation of 70,000.
Onecoin, as well as top scammers like Tom McMurrain and Ken Labine also pumped the magazine as “being distributed to over 70% of all banks (in the world)” – which was a lie, of course.
Also, I’m sure F.I.T. Mag was sure to send the January issue #2 REPRINT issue (labeled Feb. Worth a different cover) just one month after the bankers having received its first pressing.
However, Onecoin Norway’s official website (cached) thanked Financial IT for “giving away” I believe ~1,277 copies or something like this to Onecoin. Maybe more, gotta check. But again, this goes to sheer benevolence, right?
INTERJECTION: RE: Phone messages TO KEN: I’ve called Ken several times WITHOUT leaving messages. Labine’s last phone call to me was from that number. It’s the only working number I have for him, in fact!
So why/ how would I ‘know’ it WASN’T his number and why would anyone trust Ken, a Well documented compulsive liar, whether he claims it’s his girlfriend’s phone, or his, or a home phone that share?
And remember, his flock still make public comments to me to this day that I ‘chickened out in debating him last time,’ as this is what he publicly and falsely claimed, when I have also documented that HE was the one who ‘chickened out’ in our last arranged debates; one inn which an attorney had been agreed upon to be the moderator; and before that, in which he filibustered me for 4hours 20 minutes and 58 seconds, WHILE I WAITED ON HOLD FOR OVER HALF THAT TIME to actually be given the platform time to to challenge him, rebut his claims, and introduce the evidence I had prepared for weeks prior to this!
Furthermore! Upon sending him an extensive email, “in confidence and good nature, documenting and alleging Onecoin’s shady ties to both known and suspected criminals linked to Ruja and Onecoin via shell companies and former business dealings, I signed the letter with my full name (not my “brand name”), to address the train I preferred to write or post comments under said brand name – for which he Broadcasted to the world despite agreeing otherwise.
Unfortunately (or fortunately – we’ll know within 48 hours), in message #3(?) I gave too much credence to The Gerlach Report – whose stories seemed to have “watered and investigated” some of the “seedlings” included in my aforementioned email to Labine last year – which included published documents from the CIA and other sources regarding surrounding intelligence gathered during U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry’s visit to Bulgaria’s Prime Minister several years back.
Labine also made a video of this at the time, but didn’t bother even reading what I’d sent him, as in his video, most of his commentary on the communication revolved around him skimming and skipping through the communication with his signature commentary and response, which was, “blah, blah, blah ‘type,’ ‘type,’ ‘ type.'”
Had Labine actually READ the entire contents, perhaps he would have realized I was trying to HELP him.
Lastly, in message #4 in his video, I recall pointing out SPECIFIC instances of him misleading his followers – such as pointing out the video he and Joby Boughey made in response to then newly opened Poland’s Criminal Investigation, which he glossed over, and which both falsely and with obvious intent to deceive, deduced that “Poland has cleared Onecoin of any wrong doing.”
I also believe that i referred to the Tanzania incident in that message. Conveniently, Ken didn’t play this portion of the message, as it didn’t suit his narrative.
Instead, he resorted to his typical, “he (me) goes on to say [“blah, blah, blah”].” So, Labine’s LIES have been used by his followers TO CONTINUOUSLY HARASS ME, and my intention was to speak with Ken directly and “off-the-record;” but he wouldn’t pick up. Neither does McMurrain, by the way.
Well, there seems to be a massive anti climax to the ‘greatest event the world has ever seen’!
No facebook posts by anyone, no ‘rara’ videos pronouncing onecoin as the future of everything!
I saw the exact same lack of communication over here in the UK, when I informed action fraud and the Hertfordshire police of ‘ponzi princess’ Joby boughey, when he tried to start the pushing this worthless coin to people I know.
Hopefully they are all locked up and receiving some very painfull justice ‘ Chinese style’
I found this February 2016 LinkedIn article from a long-time OneCon affiliate and prominent promoter regarding the “February issue of Financial IT,” along with 2 comments, one from myself, some of whose links/ contents have since been disabled or re-edited for obvious reasons:
SOURCE: linkedin.com/pulse/financial-full-cover-story-dr-ruja-ignatova-onecoin-constantinou
How did a distribution of 2,000 jump nearly overnight to 70,000 on a REPRINT issue seemingly between January 2016 and February 2016?
I found this amusing, from Principe’s complain:
Umm, the original Skyway review on BehindMLM was published on August 26th, 2016. This is even before Principe, per his complaint, formalized a relationship with Skyway in September of 2016.
So Principe is arguing that his relationship with Skyway, which didn’t exist yet, is the reason Skyway received an honest if very unflattering review on this site.
OK, which one of you left the keys to the time machine where Oz could find them?
Damnit. I let that one slide because I thought nobody would notice.
BRB, I’ve got a time machine to relocate…
Fake report of Gerlach Report! Bad! Event still go on and they are happy happy.
this is the financial IT media kit for 2016:
financialit.net/sites/default/files/Financial_IT_Media_Kit_2016.pdf
this is the financial IT media kit for 2017:
financialit.net/media_kit_2017.pdf
chris principe’s name has been removed.
i have not received a reply from financial IT yet, about principe’s current relation with them.
i’m beginning to suspect principe got thrown out of financial IT in this new financial year, and that’s what has sent him on this litigation rampage.
great point!
chris principe has filed a case that is like a swizz cheese full of holes.
if he has lied about his position in financial IT and the skyway dates, his ass is going to get thrown out of court in a hurry.
I don’t think a competent attorney would make that statement in a civil complaint if it wasn’t true. It’s just too stupid of a thing to lie about.
It says “owner and publisher” not “CEO (or President) and publisher” so it’s entirely possible that Financial IT Magazine is a closely enough held company that Principe can not be voted out or dismissed.
Dropping his name from the media kit, have you Googled his name recently?
Among the professional skills Mr. Principe claims of himself are a deep knowledge of how international banking works, insight into blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies in general yet, the one thing Google best remembers him for are his efforts at promoting OneCoin.
Let that sink in.
When OneCoin goes down it will be bloody, it will be loud and it most defiantly will reflect upon Chris Principe, owner and publisher of Financial IT Magazine.
For the record, 99+% of every Google search result tying Chris Principe, owner and publisher of Financial IT Magazine, to OneCoin have nothing at all to do with Tim but how do you shut up tens of thousands of OneCoin affiliates bragging about Financial IT Magazine and Cris Principe’s glowing, uncritical and flattering coverage of OneCoin?
He can’t sue all of them so he has to try and convince the court that one person, other than himself, is the sole cause of the reputational damage that Chris Principe, owner and publisher of Financial IT Magazine, is most defiantly experiencing at this moment.
youtube.com/watch?v=-__1AUGJl5M
Ruja enters stage at 49:10
Intro music: Roxette – The Look
Lyrics:
Walking like a man.. yup! Scam.. yup!