A few weeks ago, I blogged about the financial troubles afflicting ePassporte, an online payment provider whose sudden disconnection from the Visa network left many account holders without access to millions of dollars. I became interested in ePassporte because it kept popping up as I was investigating stories related to affiliate programs that reward people who peddle things like rogue anti-virus products and spam.
Since then, I’ve heard from a large number of disgruntled ePassporte account holders, most of whom were or are in the online porn industry, a market that ePassporte’s CEO Chris Mallick helped to nurture. In fact, as I noted in that original blog entry, Mallick produced “Middle Men,” a movie released by Paramount in August that is a fictionalized account of his experiences in the porn billing industry.
Many of those readers have been asking for an update on this story, and I’m afraid I don’t have a whole lot more to report. But the old adage about following the money led me to at least try to understand a bit more about how ePassporte is structured, and where its money may be.
Before I get to that, it makes sense to restate what’s been said by the parties involved. On Sept. 2, ePassporte owner Chris Mallick sent an e-mail to account holders saying the company was notified that effective immediately, Visa International had suspended the ePassporte Visa program, a card issued by St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank that ePassporte customers could use to withdraw cash at ATMs worldwide.
I contacted Visa for comment on that story, and the following Tuesday received a statement from Visa via e-mail saying that it had disconnected ePassporte at the request of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank to “address certain program deficiencies.” Neither Visa nor SKNA Bank has been willing to discuss what those deficiencies may have been. A story in the St. Kitts Nevis Observer quotes a St. Kitts National Bank representative as saying Visa had cleared them of any wrongdoing, although that official – Patricia Wilkinson – declined to say who had accused them of wrongdoing or answer any other questions when I reached her by phone on Monday.
In checking out numerous forums and looking up bank and incorporation records online, I learned that ePassporte is incorporated in Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Venezuela. Indeed, the ePassporte Visa cards themselves include this information, indirectly at least, with the statement:
“This card is issued by St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank Limited” (“Bank”) pursuant to a license from Visa International and under a co-branding agreement between ePassporte N.V. and the bank.”
The Web site for the Curaçao Chamber of Commerce & Industry says ePassporte N.V. is registered at the address Kaya Richard J. Beaujon Z/N, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. The managing director of the company is a man named Gregory E. Elias (the same information is included in a old WHOIS records search for epassporte.com).
According to multiple ePassporte users with whom I’ve corresponded, any wires or bank transfers used to deposit funds in ePassporte accounts are sent to ePassporte N.V. via an entity called United International Bank N.V., an organization founded in 2009. Interestingly, United International Bank also lists the same Curaçao address, and lists Mr. Elias as a director, among others. So, on the surface at least, it appears that ePassporte and its primary bank are owned and operated by the same entity and directors.
I was able to locate a phone number for Mr. Elias and reached him this morning at United International Trust. Elias said he had no idea ePassporte customers were having trouble withdrawing their money from the bank, but he declined to answer direct questions about the situation.
“The only thing we can tell you is if you send your inquires and questions in writing to us, we will pass them on to Mr. Mallick and his lawyers,” Elias said. “We cannot go over queries over the phone. We never do that.” Elias declined to give me his e-mail address, saying I should be able to find it if I really were an investigative reporter.
Mallick and ePassporte have yet to respond to requests for comment. Mallick issued another statement Sept. 10 via an adult Webmaster forum, urging customers who were having trouble withdrawing their funds to be patient. “Our staff is all working diligently to resolve these issues and the many moving and complicated parts of getting the funds returned,” Mallick wrote. “Therefore, please do not mistake our silence as hiding, avoiding or stringing you along. We too have funds that are stuck in the system as well as massive costs of operation without any income.”
But bereft of any hard information from ePassporte, the company’s customers have begun spinning conspiracy theories about what could have fueled the entire fiasco. Some have pointed to Mallick’s film, which according to Web site boxofficemojo.com cost an estimated $20 million but grossed less than $800,000 in a three week run at the box office that ended in late August.
In any event, I put some of the information I found into a spreadsheet (a portion of which is included below), mainly to help me understand the relationship between the various interested parties as I followed the trail of other stories I’ve been working on. It may be useful to some ePassporte customers: It includes Mr. Elias’ e-mail address and phone number.
i was able to get some mouney from an atm!!!
Just to let you know im in the uk and i have just gone to the ATM and managed to draw out some of my money alos… only asked for £180.00 which is just under the $320.00 dollars i hear you are allowed…. Will be going back tomorrow to do the same thing…
Well pleased
Good luck to all you others out there
today i was at atm and i try to get my money but atm machine said wrong identofication number, i call the bank and they told me to try again tomorrow i also ask about my balance and i was socked when they told me i have66$ and not 200$ when i check last time when the site was working, i woder if i am the only 1 in this situation
Had all my money on the wallet… so now???? :[
i have money on my wallet, and i dont know if i will get them back
If you sign onto epassporte, then signoff a new message is displayed (I suppose this wouldve been in your inbox if you could access it). This is a excerpt from it reguarding access to funds on the wallet:
”
Dozens of emails are being sent to individuals no longer employed or contracted by ePassporte, to Mr. Gregory Elias and United Bank and none of these individuals can answer your requests. More importantly, your requests will not be forwarded to ePassporte. It is extremely important all wallet related inquires are sent to walletrequest@ePassporte.com.
Please expect a definitive date for wallet wires to go out on or before October 18th.
”
So apparently they will wire wallet $ on or before October 18th, but what I don’t understand is if this is the case they should be answering emails sent in and confirming people that they will wire them… Or does this imply they are going to mass wire everyone who has added a bank account in the past money to it? Their lack of communication is quite upsetting!
Hope that they mean wireee from wallet to visa…
Some people are reporting to get ACH through a third party processor.
what is or what are ACH?
THE COMPLETE NEW MESSAGE:
——————————————————
October 7, 2010
Dear Account Holder:
St. Kitts Bank has announced that Visa Cards have been reactivated and funds are available to be withdrawn as of today. If you have funds on your Virtual Visa Card, please use your Visa Electron Card at ATM.s or Points of Sale Merchant locations. You can also use your Visa Virtual Card for online purchases. If your card is not working or you require assistance with the funds on your Visa Card, please contact SKNANB at https://www.sknanb.com/message.htm.
If you have funds on your ePassporte Wallet Account, we kindly ask that you direct all correspondence to one address: walletrequests@epassporte.com. Please be patient with us during this time as we have encountered a large number of fraudulent requests and are working with a small staff to review accounts manually.
Dozens of emails are being sent to individuals no longer employed or contracted by ePassporte, to Mr. Gregory Elias and United Bank and none of these individuals can answer your requests. More importantly, your requests will not be forwarded to ePassporte. It is extremely important all wallet related inquires are sent to walletrequest@ePassporte.com.
Please expect a definitive date for wallet wires to go out on or before October 18th.
Once again, we regret the inconvenience and problems not having access to your funds has caused. We are working diligently to get this resolved. We ask for your continued patience as we sort through the many issues with the Bank and Visa as well as our Fraud Prevention System.
Sincerely,
ePassporte
—————————————
That may be good news for epass wallet. But there’s another small majority out there that are going to get screwed.
I personally made two transfers on the 1st and 2nd that have been “lost”. They deducted out of my epass wallet immediately as per the norm, but never reached my bank account. (Been 7 days) Two days after the 2nd transfer epass locked us out of our accounts.
So what the hell happened to that “in transit” money? There’s not even proof of it being in the wallet anymore so… yeah.
Also… walletrequest@ePassporte.com is a dead email. So why the hell are they including that in the newest statement?
Scratch that above …
walletrequestS with an “s” is dead. It seems that walletrequest@epassporte.com IS the one working.
Why the hell would they write both in the same statement? Not even proofreading this shit?
Everything you ever wanted to know about Chris Mallick but were afraid to ask: http://chris-mallick.com/index.php?option=com_joobb&view=forum&forum=1&Itemid=1
on the http://chris-mallick.com site peaple going to find a lawyer who can help. I will join to the group and pay 10%. I want my money and i will do anything for it!
That site got shut down…hmmmm wonder why.
It was still on 2 hours ago or so. was a great site. Some users talked about uniting for legal action against Mallick and it showed some tax statements for his villas…..
http://chris-mallick.com/ is up again. Apparently Moniker.com (registrar redirected the domain after a complaint from Mallick’s lawyer… and without notifying the domain owner).
mirrors are popping up everywhere:
http://sites.google.com/site/chrisjmallick/home
http://factsaboutepassporte.tumblr.com/
http://epassportelawsuit.com/
that site is down now
walletrequests@epassporte.com is DEAD
—– The following addresses had permanent fatal errors —–
(reason: 554 5.7.1 : Recipient address
rejected: Access denied)
—– Transcript of session follows —–
… while talking to mail.epassporte.com.:
>>> DATA
<<< 554 5.7.1 : Recipient address rejected:
Access denied
554 5.0.0 Service unavailable
<<< 554 5.5.1 Error: no valid recipients
Try: walletrequest@epassporte.com
No “s”.
My epassporte cards still dont work. $5500 + in it. I called the Bank. They said they marked my account as one “of the many” where they require additional info. They asked me to email them and that they will respond to my email and will send a form that I need to fill and return. They said it may take a few weeks. They would offer wire transfers. At least.
I wonder if they still block all cards that have funds of more than $1000 or so? Maybe they still try to keep the funds?
How about the $40 that they charged as an annual fee? They said they will not refund it. Does Visa know about it? Banks that charge for issuing visa cards that do not work on request of the bank? Is that in line with VISA policy? And how about the interest for the funds that they keep since September 1st? As longer St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank blocks the cards, as more time they have to earn interest. I didnt asked when I called, but do you think they will pay interest when they wire the funds (if they ever do) ?
Everyone I’ve spoken to says their accounts are one of many flagged as needing more info. My account too, and it is in my own name, my current address, and if they bothered to check my current phone number & email too. No emails to the bank have been replied to, nor a call so they have no intention of doing anything.
This is just a stall tactic while they loot the accounts and do a Chris Mallick / ePassporte and disappear with the money. Don’t forget, the same cockroach that heads this bank’s board was also on ePassporte’s board, and actually is the insect that set up the whole whirly twirly paper chase that ePassporte referred to as banking.
The only way anyone is going to get any of their money back is to sign on to one of the class action lawsuits being formed now. There are posts everywhere with links to the suits being prepared, pick one and sign on.
They have also blocked my card, i had over 4000$+
Looks like they have blocked all users over 1000$+. They are looking to keep the money inteads as some of them aren’t goin to verify themselves for sure.
I emailed them 2 days back, still got no reply from them. I more than confirmed now, my money is gone. Not comin back. Lets see if they reply or not.
http://www.epassportelawsuit.com/
I think that we can say good bye to our moneys on Wallet, becouse Christopher Mallick dissolved his company. No company, no database, no money….
http://www.curacao-chamber.an/info/registry/excerpt.asp?mode=edit&companyid=90353&establishmentnr=0&legalformid=51
In the Trade Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Curaçao registered under number 90353: Epassporte NV
Trade Epassporte S.A.
Legal form Limited Liability Company
Official name Epassporte N.V.
Registered office Curacao
Date of formation August 19, 2002
Date last amendment December 29, 2005
Date established August 19, 2002
Date waiver office October 7, 2010
Nominal Capital 25,500 shares / shares with a nominal value of U.S. Dollar 1.00
4500 share or shares with a nominal value of U.S. Dollar 1.00
Classes of shares have different types of shares
The financial year is equal to the calendar year
Address Kaya Richard J. Beaujon Z / N
Curacao
Netherlands Antilles
Postal address POBox 837
Curacao
Netherlands Antilles
Investment Objective (8135), Other investment (8137) Exploitation and trade of patents, patents, licenses, etc. (8143), and Operation of Real Estate (8311)
The company was dissolved by October 7, 2010
Officer (s)
1
Position Director
Title Description Director
John Christopher Mallick
Address 13428 Maxella Avenue Suite 563
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
United States of America
Date of birth February 12, 1959
Hometown Texas
Country of birth United States of America
Nationality American
For those that lost bucks:
http://epassportelawsuit.com/
Hey what about the money in VISA virtual account? Anyones goin to file a lawsuit against that? I’ll give my 40% of my total money. I have 4000$+ stuck in that bank. Please someone help us.
I emailed them 4 days back, still got no reply from them and i think i’ll never get 1 and also never goin to see my 4000$ also.
Is there a way to contact VISA and tell them they have freeze my account, and i did email them to give them my details but they aren’t replying and looks like they goin to keep the money.
Someone?
Yes there is a way to contact. check the toll ftee worldwide customer number at visa.com and use Skype to call them for free. I did that 3 weeks ago and they offered to do a conference call with me, them and the St Kitts bank. But when the visa operator called St Kitts Bank and tried to setup the conference call, St Kitts just cut the line. But that was 3 weeks ago. I will try the same again tomorrow or so. Make sure to call Visa at a time when St Kitts is open… Let me and us know about your experience and I will also post here when I called Visa again. They had all my data in their system. I go out now…
Does anyone know of anybody that have gotten a dime in the past few days using their ePassporte debit? I have checked with a couple dozen people, all who have tried, none could even access account info.
Their statement that some people can use their cards must refer to Chris Mallick, ePassporte staff, the board of directors and anyone working in the bank itself… cuz it sure doesn’t look like anyone not part of that gang of thieves has gotten a dime that I can determine.
Be very leery of http://epassportelawsuit.com and all the personal information they ask for. If a lawsuit does not come out of it then God only knows what they will do with your personal information. The owner of epassportelawsuit.com is here: ” http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIs.aspx?domain=epassportelawsuit.com&prog_id=godaddy ” If anybody wants to check out my website http://epassportesucks.com/Guestbook.php a lot of us victims are over there chatting,telling personal stories,etc. Some have their money and some don’t. I am one of the few who have less than a $1,000 on their card and are having problems getting their money. I called St. Kitts bank and they have no idea why a code to automaticly deny transactions was placed on my account on September 18th. They said unsual activity but they said there was nothing on my account to say why. I know NONE of us could use our cards on that date. The rep was very nice,understandable, and quick to answer all of my questions including account information. The phone number rang 7 times but then I was instantly connected to a customer service rep. “If you have any questions or concerns regarding your SKNANB prepaid card, please contact SKNANB at vcprepaid@sknanb.com. In addition, cardholders can call +1-869-466-9733 to contact the cardholder services centre between the hours of 8am and 4pm Atlantic Standard Time.” anyway the bank rep said they have to contact the processing center, which he revealed is between the UK and CYPRESS if I remember correctly, and they contact the technical team either there or at the bank and just change the status code to 0 (all transactions approved). Then I will be able to get my $914 off of my card. This should be done by the end of the day Monday Central Time. I really pray that this is when the fiasco will end for me. If it does I will give huge “props and thanks” to St. Kitts bank for going through this hell for all of us and who have probably already said “UP YOURS CHRISTOPHER MALLICK!” LOL! 😛 😀
The day that I thought would never happen…The moment I thought would never come to be…HAS HAPPENED! FINALLY I have my money! No restrictions on my card at all. I was able to use it at a few stores I frequent. It is over! Praise God and Thank You Jesus!
Hi AdminEpassPorteSucks, how much was in your card? There are rumors that only cards with amounts less than $1000 or so have been unblocked… Please let us know. Many here are still blocked….
Lets see what happens with the wallet… they said monday 18… lets see!!!! $_$ $________$
do you still belive? They don’t answer to us , i don’t think company who gonna give money back will be in silent
Has ANYONE got a reply from “walletrequest” email?!
No one
But we will receive our remaining wallet funds on or before October 8, 2010
October 18, 2010
@yulia
dont worry, you will get ur funds, as jorge said on or before 18th
hey guys.
ive been following this thread since it 1st came up but i will post a comment just now, i hope you guys can help.. i am a visa card holder, one of the “small percentage” that st. kitts demanded additional info from. so they sent me this email asking for a lot of info such as passport scans and a couple more id’s and proof of residency, but the thing is they are also asking where i get the funds from, proof of source of funds, where do i intend to use the funds, questions like that.
I know they need this for verification, but, im also getting paranoid as im getting my funds from an affiliate program of a cam site. Feedbacks anyone?
Mr. krebs? what your opinion on this? I would love to hear from an expert.
Thanks!
if jorge said on 18th then i will get my money back, now im sure !