Mary Shea, a California-based psychologist looking to sell her home, has sued a potential buyer, Mike Cherwenka, over the latter’s attempt to pay 30% of the property’s value in the form of a “worthless” cryptocurrency called “Troptions.Gold.”
Shea, according to Law360, is accusing Cherwenka and his firm, Best Buy Homes, of violating securities and state racketeering laws by misleading her and other members of the public when it comes to the Troptions cryptocurrency.
The complaint states:
Cherwenka and Best Buy defrauded Shea by executing a scheme whereby they would offer to purchase her property for cash, and then, as part of the scheme, introduce confusing and false statements into the real estate contract that would, in their view, give them license to 'pay' for the property using worthless Troptions.Gold.
According to Law360 Shea negotiated with Cherwenka a sale price of $125,000 for the property, but the buyer then presented a contract with clauses related to part of the payment being made with Troptions tokens. Shea claims she was assured an independent attorney would confirm the funds before the deal’s closure, but she later discovered the attorney was associated with Cherwenka.
Taking this into account Shea refused to finalize the sale and was then taken to court by Best Buy Homes, in a case that reportedly had no standing because the firm’s name wasn’t listed on the contract. It then voluntarily dismissed the suit but filed a notice of pending litigation, which has been preventing Shea from collecting rent or selling the property, while forcing her to keep making mortgage payments.
The lawsuit reads:
Every day that Best Buy wrongfully claims an interest in her property, Shea cannot find a buyer who will pay legal tender.
Shea claims she was planning to use the funds from the sale to pay off student loan debt. Troptions, it’s worth noting, was last year hit with a cease-and-desist order from Missouri secretary of state Jay Ashcroft.
Featured image via Pixabay.
