Disgraced crypto lawyer Kyle Roche fell victim to an elaborate international setup that exposed him as corruptly beholden to Avalanche founder Ava Labs, reported by the New York Times on Sunday. The incident destroyed Roche’s career as one of the biggest lawyers in cryptocurrency litigation and began in December 2021 when Roche received an email from a trusted peer introducing him to a businessman named Mauricio Andres Villavicencio de Aguilar.
Villavicencio presented himself as an associate of Christen Ager-Hanssen, a venture capitalist interested in one of Roche’s new Avalanche-based companies. Roche met both men at Ager-Hanssen’s townhouse office in London, where Roche claimed he was coaxed into bragging about his extremely close relationship with Ava Labs. Although Roche detected something was off during the meeting, he continued to promote himself, stating that he had been granted 1% of the total supply of AVAX tokens. This figure was later admitted to be an exaggeration, as Avalanche has a current market cap of $3.8 billion, down 80% from its highs.
Roche further explained his role in AVA Labs, stating that they had not been sued yet and there was a reason for it. During the conversation, Villavicencio secretly recorded Roche, who commented that litigation could be a tool for attacking competition. He also mentioned one of his goals was to ensure that the SEC and CFTC had other “magnets” to go after. These recordings were later released as part of a 20+ video compilation presenting both Ava Labs and Roche’s law firm as corrupt, citing they had launched spurious lawsuits against competitors, including Solana Labs.
Later that evening, Roche joined the two businessmen at a restaurant, where he was recorded confessing to filing lawsuits against other companies on behalf of Ava Labs. Roche now claims that the statements were fabricated to impress the prospective investor, suspecting he may have even been drugged during the encounter, though he has no proof.
In the aftermath of the video leak, Roche Freedman parted ways with its founder last year. Roche was also removed as lead counsel in a major lawsuit against crypto exchange Bitfinex and stablecoin issuer Tether, with the judge describing his recorded comments as “uniquely stupid.” This event has left the cryptocurrency law community scrutinizing its vulnerabilities and ethical practices, as well as raising questions on the lengths influencers will go to maintain their connections and profits in this fast-paced, volatile market.
Source: Cryptonews
