Canadian authorities have shut down a cryptocurrency exchange that is alleged to have stolen CA$16 million ($12 million U.S.) in customer funds.

The move, led by the British Columbia Securities Commission, involved the seizure of Einstein Exchange Inc. and related companies in an attempt to preserve assets held by the company. Accounting firm Grant Thornton was appointed interim receiver of the company following the issuing of an order by the Supreme Court of British Columbia on Nov. 1.

Having obtained a court order, the accounting firm entered and secured an office belonging to the company the same day.

The BCSC claimed in a statement Monday that it had received numerous complaints from customers who were unable to access assets held by the exchange. The tipping point came when they were told Oct. 31 that Einstein Exchange was planning to shut down in 30 to 60 days due to a lack of profit.

Issues with nonpayment to customers go back at least several months, with multiple customers on a Reddit forum dedicated to the exchange complaining that they were having issues withdrawing funds and transferring cryptocurrency balances. The exchange has gained media attention previously for the wrong reasons: Complaints about customer service made Canadian media in 2018.

Einstein Exchange has not publicly commented on the seizure of its assets, but it was claiming as recently as Oct. 3 that customers were being targeted by scammers.

The company was founded in September 2017 by Michael Gokturk, according to Crunchbase. Prior to the Einstein Exchange, Gokturk was the founder and chief executive of Payfirma Corp., a payment technology company. There’s no apparent history of Gokturk being involved in anything untoward prior to Einstein Exchange, putting aside a boardroom battle at Payfirma. He was notably a media contributor, providing comments on other fraud cases in British Columbia in the past.

Gokturk and Einstein Exchange’s legal issues don’t end at the BCSC. CBC reported that the company is also facing two civil suits filed last month. Hong Kong-based Sino Allied alleged in one lawsuit that it’s owed $1 million by the company. Vancouver technology entrepreneur Scott Nelson is suing for 50 bitcoin ($465,000) he claims he transferred to the company but was not paid for.

Einstein Exchange is not the first Canada-based cryptocurrency exchange to close after allegedly stealing customer funds. QuadrigaCX closed its doors in January and auditors later found it had stolen $190 million from customers.

Image: Einstein Exchange