r/mtgoxinsolvency

My son deposited 42 BTC at MtGox in 2012 and subsequently became disabled. We are now caring for him and started to communicate with Gox last year.

They told us we missed the filing deadline, but not to worry… “there’s only dust left in the account”. No accounting, no detailed explanation as a bank would do.

Now we finally get his old email back and come to find some Gox confirmations with block chain address references, but not all the deposits have email confirmations. The address was swept clean after each deposit. There’s only 2 email withdrawal confirms, and those are prior to actual deposits into the blockchain address. I am convinced Gox’s ledger balance is wrong.

My son who is now disabled did not have access to his email account and never was aware of the restructuring. Even if he would have received legal notices, he did not have the mental capacity to understand it.

I’ve tried to convey all these things to Mt Gox, but their response is basically “sorry, we can’t do anything after the deadline, go see a lawyer”

Are there Mt Gox experienced lawyers that work on a contingent basis. We don’t have the means to hire an hourly Japanese lawyer.

I know a lot of people here have been told it's too late. You get the same templated replies from the Support Team. Your post-marked objection was ignored. Japanese law firms turned you away because they're overloaded with local claimants. It feels like the door is shut.

I'm posting because I was in a similar situation and found a way through. I'm not a lawyer, just a creditor who eventually got legal help that worked.

There is a rarely used procedural avenue in Japan that allows the Tokyo District Court to review a rejected claim if you can show that the trustee failed to consider material evidence during the original assessment. This isn't about arguing with the trustee or the Support Team. It's a formal petition to the 20th Civil Division.

The key is proving that the trustee's decision rested solely on internal database records while contemporaneous evidence, like Mt. Gox support emails acknowledging a security breach, or IP/geolocation data showing unauthorized access, was never weighed. Under Japanese civil rehabilitation law, that can constitute a procedural error that the court has the power to correct, even after deadlines.

I can't share legal details publicly, but after I connected with an English solicitor who works with a Tokyo-based co-counsel, they successfully petitioned to have my claim reinstated. I'm now back on the list and have received interim distributions. It wasn't free, there were court filing fees, translation, notarisation, and a court bond, but the legal team worked on a pure contingency basis, so I paid nothing for their time. They only got paid if I recovered.

If you have genuine grounds, especially evidence of a hack or unreviewed support correspondence, it's worth having someone who knows this specific court process take a look. I'm happy to pass along the contact details of the firm that helped me if you DM me. I don't gain anything from this; I just know how hopeless it feels and want to pay it forward.

Edit: A lot of DMs asking the same thing. They do not charge legal fees upfront. You only pay the unavoidable third-party costs (court, translation, bond). And they won't take your case unless they genuinely believe you have a viable petition. So you've got nothing to lose by asking.

Have not seen any here that has got payed in the last months ? The last year thay did try a few payments (even to me but got rejected from bank)

But now its only silence?