The Tale of a Crypto Executive Who Wasn’t Who He Said He Was

Mr. Rogers, who ran an funding fund with George Soros and wrote the guide “Funding Biker,” mentioned he had briefly been a “skeptical adviser” on the undertaking since he didn’t anticipate it to work. He added that he had by no means purchased cryptocurrency, not to mention through Mr. Hannum.

“I’ve by no means heard of him,” he informed me by e mail. “That is all absurd.”

Mr. Hannum was considerably related to the failed enterprise: He labored at a advertising and marketing agency in Santa Monica, Calif., referred to as Hawke Media that helped with it, in line with Erik Huberman, Hawke’s chief government.

I may discover no proof that Mr. Hannum had made any enterprise investments, not to mention $100 million price. And it’s not clear precisely how he discovered his method to ZenLedger. Pat Larsen, ZenLedger’s chief government and a founder, wouldn’t get on the cellphone with me and didn’t reply to any of my emails. I additionally wished to know if he had learn the large Forbes profile, the place Mr. Hannum described how he had been an early funder of ZenLedger.

Rob Ford, an outdoor spokesman for ZenLedger, tried to clear some issues up. He mentioned that Mr. Hannum didn’t put money into ZenLedger and that Mr. Larsen had not learn the Forbes article. The corporate doesn’t imagine Mr. Hannum ever misrepresented the corporate itself, he added.

(The I.R.S. connection is actual: ZenLedger has 4 contracts, totaling $509,600, below the company title Blockchain Analytics and Tax Software program L.L.C. The company mentioned contracts typically remained in place till they expired. “Nevertheless,” it added, “authorities contracts, together with this one, are topic to ongoing assessment in accordance with federal contracting requirements.”)

So how did Mr. Hannum find yourself at ZenLedger?

“Mr. Hannum was referred to ZenLedger via knowledgeable relationship and was cleared by a federal background verify with no flags concerning his training or work historical past,” the corporate’s assertion mentioned. “As soon as it grew to become evident that he had misrepresented his training and work historical past, in addition to the character of his position with ZenLedger, his employment with the corporate was terminated that day.”

A verify of federal information isn’t a nasty thought when hiring somebody, however it in all probability wouldn’t elevate pink flags about an individual’s skilled or academic background. So if ZenLedger wasn’t asking the precise questions, what about its buyers?