Remember I raved about EBank not being a scam...

[Mangala]

... I may have been wrong after all.  Ricdic just ran off with 200 Billion ISK.  SOld it for real money and is now banned:

http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1094517

Checked my Ebank accounts and Im down a several billion, but still got quite a bit knocking about.

And I still love eve!

[Mangala]

I'll cut right to the chase;

Ricdic, Ricdics and EBANK Ricdic characters have been banned by CCP. We are in the process of emailing our customers with this information for those who have emails in our database. We're switching over to another deposit character and I'll confirm that when it's finished. You may have also noticed we are still handling withdraws....we intend to keep doing so.

Yesterday was a busy day. Here's what we know for certain...Ricdic has scammed and engaged in RMT. He stole roughly 200 Billion of our 2.3 Trillion in deposits (8.6%). We are in the process of getting a new deposit character in place and hope to have this completed by tonight. He might have gotten away with more but Amarr Citizen 155 and Athre were able to prevent that. Please give them your thanks; I know I do.

Short term strategy; EBANK is processing withdraws and shrinking...we expect this will happen organically but if we need to nudge it along we will.

Long term strategy; still under debate. We have a few options on the table and are debating the best way forward from here. If we need to raise additional capital (which we don't believe we have to do right now) then we have a few options we'll pursue.


Bottom line;

-EBANK Ricdic has been banned
-EBANK Ricdic is no longer the deposit character for EBANK
-EBANK Athre is the Interm CEO
-EBANK is processing withdraws
-EBANK is solvent and will take additional steps if capital infusions are required
-EBANK will post again on long term strategy once we finalize it

I hope that addresses some of the concerns and I also hope to post more later and provide updates. I appreciate the support some of our customers have expressed.

[Mangala]

200 Billion of our 2.3 Trillion

Thats roughly $20000 for that 200 Bill.

[Warcold]

If you are down several billion... I dont want to know how much of that 2.3 trillion is yours...
Several billion ~ 2 -> (2/8,6)*100 ~ 25B wtf

[Mangala]

If you are down several billion... I dont want to know how much of that 2.3 trillion is yours...
Several billion ~ 2 -> (2/8,6)*100 ~ 25B wtf

Check your PMs I aint putting that info out in the world

[Macrune]

If you are down several billion... I dont want to know how much of that 2.3 trillion is yours...
Several billion ~ 2 -> (2/8,6)*100 ~ 25B wtf

Check your PMs I aint putting that info out in the world

To late Mr Gates. We can all make a fairly good guess. Working on the premise that you wont have an even split of ISK across your various Ebank accounts i would probably say that you have more than the 25 Bill mentioned above. Perhaps as much as 20% more 

[Mangala]

I wish - seriously I do.

I hadnt yet broached 20bill. And thats all i'll say on the matter of my isk hoard.

As for the scam/theft/amazing thing ricdic did, Im in two minds about it, mainly because its the first time a scam of any sort in eve has hit me - Im usually finding ways to profit from shit like this, but not today, not this one.  The thread is making for interesting reading - highlighting massive irregularities in what for me was a shining beacon of hope in the secondary markets of EVE, for example a 275billion isk loan that Ricdic made without any security (apparently to KIA as several high ups in Ebank were/are KIA members), and his poor track record for investments overall with any oversigth often being bribed or just ignored.  Mismanagement turned into a scam, love it!

[Macrune]

Actually he was doing us all a favour adding to the realism of the game. He's just using his influence to parallel the real world econony .  take take take.........CRASH!

[Mangala]

BBC picked up on it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8132547.stm

Space trading game Eve Online has suffered a virtual version of the credit crunch.

One of the game's biggest financial institutions lost a significant chunk of its deposits as a financial scandal started a run on the bank.

One of the controllers of the bank stole about 200bn kredits and swapped them for real world cash of £3,115.

As news of the theft spread many of the bank' customers rushed to remove their virtual cash.

Space scandal

The theft from EBank took place in early June but only now have details emerged about the amount of money stolen and why it was taken.

The theft was carried out by EBank's chief executive, a player known as Ricdic, now known to be a 27-year-old Australian who works in the technology industry. His full identity has not been revealed save that his first name is Richard.

The stolen kredits amounted to 8% of the 2.6tn that Ebank had in its virtual vaults.

"Basically this character was one of the people who had been running EBank for a while. He took a bunch of (virtual) money out of the bank, and traded it away for real money," Ned Coker, of Icelandic company CCP which runs Eve, told the Reuters news agency.

Eve Online has about 300,000 players all of whom inhabit the same online universe. The game revolves around trade, mining asteroids and the efforts of different player-controlled corporations to take control of swathes of virtual space.

It has now emerged that Ricdic used the cash to put down a deposit on a house and to pay medical bills.

"I'm not proud of it at all, that's why I didn't brag about it," Ricdic told Reuters. "But you know, if I had to do it again, I probably would've chosen the same path based on the same situation."

Ricdic has now been thrown out of the game as trading in-game cash for real money is against Eve Online's terms and conditions.

The rules governing play within Eve would not have sanctioned Ricdic if he had simply stolen the cash and used it in the game, nor if he had bought kredits with real dollars.

The scandal is not the first to play out in Eve Online. In early 2009 one of the game's biggest corporations, called Band of Brothers, was brought down by industrial espionage.

[Taith]

The scandal is not the first to play out in Eve Online. In early 2009 one of the game's biggest corporations, called Band of Brothers, was brought down by industrial espionage

Interestingly very specific use of language there. I skimmed that line and read "plague" instead of "play out", but caught it on a reread.

As I recall you've previously linked an article stating the opinion that this sort of thing is absolutely necessary to Eve's longevity. I wonder if the BBC writer gets that.

[Gunnarr]

The interesting thing about Eve is, imho, that it's more about the meta-game than about the actual game.
These things that are being broadcasted as the "big heists" in Eve have little to do with the game-mechanics themselves, but rather with a person (or persons) managing to pass themselves off as someone else, or simply changing heart (and loyalties along with it)

Personally, I don't care much about the way this goes in Eve. I like to think it's not to hard to pass yourself off for somebody else on the Interwebs.
But I do understand the attraction of meta-gaming, as I used to play a game called "Utopia" where the actual game required you to log in perhaps 3 times in a 24h period, for maybe 10 minutes each time. The rest of the, hmm, 12-18 times that I sat behind my computer some days were spent on 3-8 different IRC channels plus some fora, forging alliances, making deals with other players and just playing nice and building up street cred.
And that was good fun!

[Mangala]

/.'d :  http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/07/04/021218/Massive-Bank-Fraud-In-EVE-Online?art_pos=6

Also on the canadian news and belgian news recently too.

[Warcold]

yeah, was also on msn fronpage today

guess the world finally caught up

[Mangala]

I am glad I took my money a few weeks ago...

http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1161131&sid=606569974

Statement from the Board


Account Freeze

It is with deep regret that we inform you of our decision to suspend certain banking activities with immediate effect. As of now both withdrawals and interest are frozen until further notice. This decision has not come lightly, we have critically analysed all aspects of the business and decided it is in the best interest of our customers and the long-term sustainability of the bank that these actions be taken.

Mismanagement

In early March this year, as has been revealed previously, our then current CEO Ricdic embezzled funds for the purpose of RMT to the amount of 250b ISK. He was immediately dismissed and action was taken against him by CCP. He was also responsible, along with board members, for over-extending credit to a long standing loan customer. This loan, for an overall amount of 275b, was soon defaulted – leaving the bank with little recourse to recover the funds.

A 525b ISK loss should have been easy for a bank with 2 trillion in deposits and a year and a half of profit generation behind it; but what wasn’t clear was the extent to which Ricdic’s mismanagement had harmed the bank. Without proper management reporting it was also impossible for the Board to identify and resolve the worsening crisis, although we accept the fact this situation should never have been allowed to continue unchecked for as long as it did.

Deficit

With the recent establishment of maintainable financial statements the depth of the situation has started revealing itself. At this point in time EBANK is 1.2t ISK in deficit, which continues to increase by an estimated 12b ISK per month. This is an unacceptable situation, and without drastic action being taken there would be little chance of recovery.

Drastic Action

• Withdrawals are frozen, with the exception of deposits that were made after this announcement.
• Account interest has also been stopped, with the exception of loan interest.
• Loan defaults will be revealed, and ruthlessly pursued.
• The Board will be returned to its full complement of 9 Directors.

Interest and Withdrawal Switch

Interest will be turned back on when two conditions are met:
1. Interest from non-intensive activities sustainably matches or exceeds the monthly interest expenses.
a. Profit generation from sustainable, low maintenance operations needs to exceed 36b ISK.
2. The bank achieves an equity status not less than 85% of its liabilities.
a. Available capital must exceed 1.7t ISK. It currently stands at 0.8t.

Interest will be switched off again should equity fall below the 80% mark.

Withdrawals will be allowed once the bank achieves a maintainable equity status of 90% (1.8t currently); they will be stopped again should that fall below 80%.

Losses

Losses to date have occurred as follows:

1. ~250b – Ricdic Theft.
2. ~380b – Loan Defaults
3. >48b – Share Losses
4. ~466b – Interest Paid
5. ~75b – Salaries

There are possibly further losses not accounted for, such as operational losses, additional theft and reporting errors. As these are established we will report on them.

How Did This Happen?

The truth is we do not have enough information at hand to establish this, without the benefit of robust reporting we don’t have any solid documentation to investigate. The internal forums allude to masses of wealth being generated through ventures run by Ricdic and others; however we cannot consolidate this against our current finances. We’re not even completely sure that he only managed to abscond with 250b; he may have gotten away with more. It is possible the bank has been running at a deficit since its inception – we have no evidence to disprove this.

What is certain is that this was allowed to happen by the Board; controls were not enforced, auditing was never completed and reporting was almost non-existent. That will change.

Changes

Full APIs are being pulled and stored for all staff members with access to funds, and you can at any time look at our Public Financials to see exactly with whom and where your ISK is.

Ventures, which for so long ran independent of the bank, are undergoing a major overhaul. They will for all intents and purposes just form another part of the bank, much as tellers and loan officers are. They will operate under the same strict standards that are being set for the bank itself.

Loans will be collateralised, that change has already been enforced. Prior defaults will also be revealed and ruthlessly pursued. They will also form part of our main focus.

There is a moratorium on salaries, they are still being recorded but won’t be paid until the bank is in a more stable condition, and definitely not before clients are able to get their ISK back.

Recovery

Without the burden of 36b in interest per month the bank can start down the long path to full recovery, and with further internal changes we’ll be aiming to triple our monthly profit generation within a very short timeframe. Whilst we can’t say for certain when we’ll achieve full liquidity, our aim is to turn interest and withdrawals back on within a year. However recovering a trillion ISK is a monumental task, and we ask for your patience whilst we go about this endeavour. Our Public Financials will be updated weekly, you have but to ask should you see something lacking.

The Future

The bank is now in a state of consolidation, we’ll be working towards strengthening the board with both executive and non-executive directors. Reporting will become more structured and transparent; the API will be used to greater effect in order to accurately report and alert us to issues. All members are committed to this action, we draw strength from the fact we are doing the right thing. We will answer any serious questions you may have and address any concerns you raise with honesty and to the best of our ability.

Yours Sincerely,
The Board and Staff
EBANK

[peo]

Can't say I'm surprised.
The important part is to look at the losses to default, (credit risk ) and remember that since there is no way to recover losses when someone defaults on the loans the risks always outweighed the benefit.
Basically, the business model works as long as people keep pushing cash into the t2 bpo market which in turn is affected by invention which reduces the value of the bpo's with the amount of people into invention.

If they are to recover (can't see how they will as who in their right mind will ever trust them with their cash now? ) they need to somehow revise how and to what they supply credit.