John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain

A summary of what happened?

John Monarch, the former CEO of ShipChain Inc., a blockchain-based logistics company, has been embroiled in several legal controversies and regulatory actions. These issues primarily revolve around the company’s fundraising activities and Monarch’s alleged involvement in a cryptocurrency blackmail scheme.

1. Unregistered Securities Offering:

Between late 2017 and early 2018, ShipChain conducted an Initial Coin Offering (ICO), raising approximately $27.6 million through the sale of over 145 million SHIP tokens. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) determined that these tokens were sold as unregistered securities, violating federal securities laws. Consequently, in December 2020, the SEC ordered ShipChain to cease operations and imposed a $2.05 million civil penalty. The company was also mandated to transfer all SHIP tokens to a Fair Fund to reimburse affected investors.

2. State-Level Cease-and-Desist Order:

In May 2018, the South Carolina Securities Division issued a cease-and-desist order against ShipChain for offering unregistered securities within the state. This action was part of “Operation Cryptosweep,” a broader initiative targeting fraudulent ICOs and cryptocurrency-related investment schemes across the United States and Canada.

3. Alleged Cryptocurrency Blackmail Scheme:

John Monarch faced a lawsuit alleging his involvement in a 2013 cryptocurrency blackmail scheme against Pennsylvania businessman Richard Gorman. The suit claimed that Monarch demanded $500,000 in cryptocurrency from Gorman and, upon refusal, initiated an online smear campaign targeting Gorman’s associates and family. Monarch’s co-defendant in the case, Karl Steinborn, was held liable for $3.1 million in damages and subsequently committed suicide in 2016.

4. Defamation Lawsuit and Attempted Gag Order:

In response to media coverage of the alleged blackmail scheme, Monarch sought a gag order to prevent further reporting on the matter. 2018, a judge in Greenville, South Carolina, denied Monarch’s motion, allowing the press to continue covering the case.

These incidents collectively highlight significant concerns regarding John Monarch’s business practices and ethical conduct during his tenure as CEO of ShipChain.

Analyzing the Fake Copyright Notice(s)

Our team collects and analyses fraudulent copyright takedown requests, legal complaints, and other efforts to remove critical information from the internet. Through our investigative reporting, we examine the prevalence and operation of an organized censorship industry, predominantly funded by criminal entities, oligarchs, and disreputable businesses or individuals. Our findings allow internet users to gain insight into these censorship schemes’ sources, methods, and underlying objectives.

What was John Monarch - CEO of Shipchain trying to hide?

John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain‘s attempts to hide unfavourable content through the misuse of copyright notices while allegedly engaging in perjury present serious legal concerns. These actions suggest a calculated attempt to manipulate legal systems to suppress free speech, a fundamental violation of copyright law principles and an abuse of legal processes. The use of such tactics not only undermines the integrity of copyright protection but also potentially constitutes perjury, further entangling John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain in legal accountability. Let’s examine the information John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain may be trying to remove from the internet –

Investigative Report: John Monarch and the Controversies Surrounding ShipChain

John Monarch, the former CEO of ShipChain Inc., a blockchain-based logistics company, has faced significant legal battles and allegations during his career. These controversies span accusations of unregistered securities sales, involvement in a cryptocurrency blackmail scheme, and broader concerns about unethical business practices. This report provides a comprehensive examination of the adverse news, lawsuits, and regulatory actions that have surrounded Monarch and ShipChain.

1. Background on John Monarch and ShipChain

ShipChain Inc. was founded as a blockchain logistics platform aimed at revolutionizing supply chain management by improving transparency and efficiency. The company utilized its proprietary SHIP tokens as part of its ecosystem, which were central to its funding efforts through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2017 and 2018.

• John Monarch’s Role: As CEO, Monarch was the public face of ShipChain, promoting the project to investors and overseeing its operations. Despite lofty promises of technological advancements, ShipChain’s reputation became marred by allegations of regulatory violations and financial misconduct.

2. Unregistered Securities Allegations

The ICO and SEC Intervention: Between December 2017 and January 2018, ShipChain raised approximately $27.6 million by selling over 145 million SHIP tokens to investors worldwide. The ICO, while lucrative, quickly drew the attention of regulatory authorities.

• Securities Violations: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) determined that SHIP tokens were unregistered securities under U.S. law. By selling these tokens without proper registration or exemption, ShipChain violated federal securities laws.
• SEC Enforcement Action: In December 2020, the SEC issued a cease-and-desist order against ShipChain, effectively halting its operations. The company was fined $2.05 million and required to transfer all remaining SHIP tokens to a Fair Fund for investor reimbursement.
• Investor Fallout: The collapse of ShipChain left many investors facing significant losses, raising questions about Monarch’s role in misleading the public about the project’s legitimacy.

3. South Carolina Cease-and-Desist Order

ShipChain faced additional regulatory scrutiny at the state level. In May 2018, the South Carolina Securities Division issued a cease-and-desist order against the company, citing violations of state securities laws.

• Operation Cryptosweep: The cease-and-desist order was part of a larger initiative targeting fraudulent ICOs and cryptocurrency investment schemes across North America. ShipChain’s inclusion in this crackdown further cemented its reputation as a high-risk venture.
• ShipChain’s Response: While ShipChain initially disputed the allegations, it ultimately ceased operations following mounting legal and regulatory pressure.

4. Alleged Cryptocurrency Blackmail Scheme

One of the most serious and damaging allegations against John Monarch involved his purported role in a 2013 cryptocurrency blackmail scheme targeting Pennsylvania businessman Richard Gorman.

Details of the Allegations:

• Blackmail Demand: Monarch allegedly demanded $500,000 in cryptocurrency from Gorman. When Gorman refused, Monarch and an associate, Karl Steinborn, initiated an online smear campaign against Gorman and his family.
• Impact of the Campaign: The smear campaign reportedly included defamatory content that damaged Gorman’s reputation and professional relationships.
• Legal Actions: Gorman filed a lawsuit against Monarch and Steinborn, seeking damages for the alleged extortion and defamation.

Steinborn’s Liability and Tragic Outcome:

• In 2016, Steinborn was found liable for $3.1 million in damages. Shortly after the judgment, he committed suicide, casting a shadow over the case and intensifying scrutiny on Monarch’s involvement.

Monarch’s Denial and Attempts to Silence Media:

• Monarch has consistently denied the allegations, asserting his innocence. However, his attempts to suppress media coverage of the case were unsuccessful.
• In 2018, a South Carolina judge denied Monarch’s motion for a gag order against USA Herald, allowing continued reporting on the matter.

5. Defamation Lawsuit and Reputation Management

The fallout from the blackmail allegations led to significant reputational damage for Monarch. Reports suggest that Monarch engaged in aggressive legal tactics to silence critics and limit negative media exposure.

Failed Gag Order Motion:

• Monarch filed a motion in South Carolina to prevent USA Herald from publishing articles about the blackmail allegations. The motion was denied, with the judge affirming the media’s right to report on matters of public interest.

Criticism from Legal Experts:

• Legal analysts criticized Monarch’s efforts as attempts to intimidate journalists and suppress free speech, further tarnishing his public image.

6. Broader Concerns About ShipChain’s Operations

While the regulatory and legal actions dominated headlines, ShipChain faced broader accusations of mismanagement and overpromising on its capabilities:

• Unrealistic Promises: Critics argued that ShipChain’s claims about revolutionizing supply chain management through blockchain technology were exaggerated and lacked feasible implementation plans.
• Investor Misinformation: The marketing materials used during the ICO emphasized high returns without adequately disclosing the risks associated with investing in unregistered securities.
• Failure to Deliver: ShipChain ultimately failed to develop a functioning product, leaving investors questioning the authenticity of its business model.

7. Industry and Public Reactions

The controversies surrounding Monarch and ShipChain have had ripple effects across the cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors:

Loss of Investor Confidence:

• ShipChain’s collapse, coupled with Monarch’s legal troubles, contributed to skepticism about the legitimacy of blockchain startups and ICOs.

Calls for Greater Regulation:

• The case has been cited as a justification for increased oversight of cryptocurrency projects to protect investors from fraudulent or poorly managed ventures.

Media and Public Backlash:

• Monarch’s involvement in the blackmail allegations and his attempts to suppress media coverage have drawn widespread criticism, damaging his credibility as a business leader.

8. Conclusion: A Cautionary Tale

John Monarch’s tenure as CEO of ShipChain serves as a cautionary tale about the risks of unregulated cryptocurrency ventures and the consequences of unethical behavior. While blockchain technology holds significant potential, cases like ShipChain highlight the importance of transparency, accountability, and compliance with regulatory standards.

Key Takeaways:

1. Transparency is Critical: Investors must demand full disclosure from companies offering blockchain-based securities.
2. Regulatory Compliance Matters: The ShipChain case underscores the need for startups to adhere to securities laws to avoid legal and financial repercussions.
3. Ethical Leadership is Essential: The allegations against Monarch raise questions about the role of leadership in ensuring the ethical conduct of a company.

As regulatory bodies continue to crack down on fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes, the legacy of ShipChain and John Monarch will likely remain a prominent example of the pitfalls of unchecked ambition in the blockchain space.

How do we counteract this malpractice?

Once we ascertain the involvement of John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain (or actors working on behalf of John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain), we will inform John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain of our findings via Electronic Mail.

Our preliminary assessment suggests that John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain may have engaged a third-party reputation management agency or expert, which, either independently or under direct authorization from John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain, initiated efforts to remove adverse online content, including potentially fraudulent DMCA takedown requests. We will extend an opportunity to John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain to provide details regarding their communications with the agency or expert, as well as the identification of the individual(s) responsible for executing these false DMCA notices.

Failure to respond in a timely manner will necessitate a reassessment of our initial assumptions. In such an event, we will be compelled to take appropriate legal action to rectify the unlawful conduct and take the following steps –

Since John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain made such efforts to hide something online, it seems fit to ensure that this article and sensitive information targeted online by these events get a lot more exposure and traffic than what it would have received originally

We hope this becomes an excellent case study for the Streisand effect…The key idea behind the Streisand effect is that efforts to restrict information can backfire, often causing the information to gain more attention than it would have otherwise. This effect is widespread in the digital age, where users quickly notice and spread censorship efforts on social media and other platforms. Trying to suppress something can unintentionally lead to it becoming more visible, which John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain is finding out the hard way.

Potential Consequences for John Monarch - CEO of Shipchain

Under Florida Statute 831.01, the crime of Forgery is committed when a person falsifies, alters, counterfeits, or forges a document that carries “legal efficacy” with the intent to injure or defraud another person or entity.

Forging a document is considered a white-collar crime. It involves altering, changing, or modifying a document to deceive another person. It can also include passing along copies of documents that are known to be false. In many states in the US, falsifying a document is a crime punishable as a felony.

Additionally, under most laws, “fraud on the court” is where “a party has sentiently set in motion some unconscionable scheme calculated to interfere with the judicial system’s ability impartially to adjudicate a matter by improperly influencing the trier of fact or unfairly hampering the presentation of the opposing party’s claim or defense.”  Cox v. Burke, 706 So. 2d 43, 46 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (quoting Aoude v. Mobil Oil Corp., 892 F.2d 1115, 1118 (1st Cir. 1989)).

Is John Monarch - CEO of Shipchain Committing a Cyber Crime?

Yes, it seems so. John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain used multiple approaches to remove unwanted material from review sites and Google’s search results. Thanks to protections allowing freedom of speech in the United States, there are very few legal ways to do this. John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain could not eliminate negative reviews or search results that linked to them without a valid claim of defamation, copyright infringement, or some other clear breach of the law.

Faced with these limitations, some companies like John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain have gone to extreme lengths to fraudulently claim copyright ownership over a negative review in the hopes of taking it down.

Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain is certainly keeping interesting company here….

The DMCA takedown process requires that copyright owners submit a takedown notice to an ISP identifying the allegedly infringing content and declaring, under penalty of perjury, that they have a good faith belief that the content is infringing. The ISP must then promptly remove or disable access to the content. The alleged infringer can then submit a counter-notice, and if the copyright owner does not take legal action within 10 to 14 days, the ISP can restore the content.

Since these platforms are predominantly based in the U.S., the complaints are typically made under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which requires online service providers and platforms to react immediately to reports or violations. Big Tech companies rarely have systems in place to assess the merit of each report. Instead, all bad actors need to do is clone a story, backdate it, and then demand the real thing be taken down.

Reputation Agency's Modus Operandi

The fake DMCA notices we found always use the “back-dated article” technique. With this technique, the wrongful notice sender (or copier) creates a copy of a “true original” article and back-dates it, creating a “fake original” article (a copy of the true original) that, at first glance, appears to have been published before the true original.

Then, based on the claim that this backdated article is the “original,” the scammers send a DMCA to the relevant online service providers (e.g. Google), alleging that the ‘true’ original is the copied or “infringing” article and that the copied article is the “original,” requesting the takedown of the ‘true’ original article. After sending the DMCA request, the person who sent the wrong notice takes down the fake original URL, likely to make sure that the article doesn’t stay online in any way. If the takedown notice is successful, the disappearance from the internet of information is most likely to be legitimate speech.

As an integral part of this scheme, the ‘reputation management’ company hired by John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain creates a website that purports to be a ‘news’ site. This site is designed to look legitimate at a glance, but any degree of scrutiny reveals it as the charade it is.

The company copies the ‘negative’ content and posts it “on the fake ‘news’ site, attributing it to a separate author,” then gives it “a false publication date on the ‘news’ website that predated the original publication.

The reputation company then sent Google a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice claiming the original website infringed copyright. After a cursory examination of the fake news site, Google frequently accepts the notice and delists the content.

In committing numerous offences, John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain either premeditated actions or were unaware of the consequences. Despite hiring an agency to make Google disregard any negative information about John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain, ignorance does not excuse this wrongdoing.

Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. FSMSmart is certainly keeping interesting company here.

The Reputation Laundering

Rogue Reputation agencies use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking clients to allegations of tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking. Most of these reputation agencies are based offshore, mainly in Russia, India, and Eastern Europe, and they do not worry about complying with US-based laws.

The content in all of the articles for which the fraudulent DMCA notices have been sent relates to allegations of criminal allegations, including corruption, child abuse, sexual harassment, human trafficking and financial fraud against businesses and individuals with ultra-high net worth.

In addition to the misuse of the DMCA takedown process, there is a notable absence of enforcement concerning perjury violations. The statutory requirement related to perjury is designed to deter copyright holders from submitting fraudulent or knowingly false takedown requests, as they may face legal consequences for making false declarations under penalty of perjury. However, to date, there have been no known instances of any individual being prosecuted for perjury in connection with the submission of false DMCA takedown notices.

This lack of enforcement has emboldened copyright holders to exploit the DMCA takedown process to suppress dissent, criticism, or other unfavorable content, without fear of legal repercussions.

Some of the people and businesses who have employed this tactic to remove legitimate content from Google illegally include a Spanish businessman-turned-cocaine-trafficker, Organised crime, an Israeli-Argentine banker accused of laundering money for Hugo Chávez’s regime, a French “responsible” mining company accused of tax evasion, child molesters and sexual predators. John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain is in great company ….

What else is John Monarch - CEO of Shipchain hiding?

We encourage you to ‘Dork‘ Google by searching for keyword combinations such as [John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain] + {Negative Keyword, such as Scam, Fraud, Complaints, Lawsuit, Sanction, etc} on Google. It’s likely if you scroll down to the bottom of this Google search results, you’ll stumble upon this Legal Takedown notice (pictured below)

To make such an investigation possible, we encourage more online service providers to come forward and share copies of content removal requests with industry experts and researchers. If you have any information on John Monarch – CEO of Shipchain that you want to share with experts and journalists, kindly email the author directly at [email protected].

All communications are strictly confidential and safeguarded under a comprehensive Whistleblower Policy, ensuring full protection and anonymity for individuals who provide information.