Quadriga Founder's Widow Says ‘Unwanted’ Attention Is Too Much

(Bloomberg) -- The widow of Quadriga Fintech Solutions Corp. founder Gerald Cotten has asked a Canadian court to appoint a chief restructuring officer, in part because of the unwanted attention caused by the shuttering of the cryptocurrency exchange.

The Vancouver-based company, which owes about 115,000 clients some C$260 million ($197 million) in cash and cryptocurrencies, has been closed for a month and is under creditor protection while Ernst & Young Inc. attempts to unravel the firm’s financial dealings through a court process. Quadriga also asked to extend the period of creditor protection.

Jennifer Robertson, who stepped in as a director after her husband’s death along with her step father Tom Beazley and Jack Martel -- who has since resigned -- is asking for Peter Wedlake, a senior vice president and partner with Grant Thornton, to fill the restructuring role.

“The remaining two directors, being me and Tom Beazley, have no significant experience in the cryptocurrency industry and no experience with an insolvent company," Robertson said Monday in an affidavit. “Further, the public attention my role as director has brought is unwanted, and online commentary which I have reviewed has suggested that I, in particular, am trying to hide assets or am acting contrary to the best interests of the companies, which is not true."

Access to Quadriga digital “wallets” -- an application that stores the keys to send and receive cryptocurrencies -- appears to have been lost with the passing of Cotten, who died Dec. 9 in India from complications of Crohn’s disease. He was 30.

As is often the case with crypto, the episode has raised speculation in online forums, where posters have wondered aloud if the business was a scam, whether the coins were still moving between accounts and even calling into question Cotten’s death.

To contact the reporter on this story: Doug Alexander in Toronto at dalexander3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, ;David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net, ;Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Dave Liedtka

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