Former Bitwise co-CEOs Jake Soberal and Irma Olguin Jr. penned an apology letter to their former employees and investors on Thursday.
Their apology came one day after pleading guilty in federal court to committing $115 million in wire fraud.
Flashback: After initially pleading not guilty last year, Soberal and Olguin accepted a plea deal from federal prosecutors and changed their plea to guilty in court on Wednesday.
- They face a maximum of 20 years in prison each, and the terms of the plea deal stipulate that they will not request less than five years in prison when they are sentenced in November.
- Per the plea deal, Soberal and Olguin also agreed to pay $115 million in restitution.
What they’re saying: Soberal and Olguin started their letter saying they “are finally able to say some of the things we need to say.”
- “In 2022 and 2023, we did many things wrong. First, we lied to lenders and investors in egregious ways so that they would give Bitwise money that we could use to keep the company going, and keep our teammates employed,” they wrote. “Second, we were dishonest with teammates and others who trusted us deeply about Bitwise Industries’ financial health. Third, we’d lost our ability to see the collateral damage that was possible in these cases – and likely others – our actions caused trauma, hardship, grief, and profound hurt.”
- They said they wanted “so badly” to see Bitwise and Fresno succeed, which gave rise to the false belief that those things were only possible if Bitwise kept going. With much on the line, they said they “absolutely, unequivocally, and irreversibly chose the wrong way.”
- “We are deeply sorry,” they wrote.
- The letter continues, “We are sorry to have abused and broken the trust you placed in us. We are sorry to have failed in our leadership of the company that you loved. We are sorry for the money that you entrusted to us that you may never get back. We are sorry for the unique, real, and painful stories of struggle that our wrong actions caused, most of which we may never even hear about.”
- They acknowledged that their apology may be too little, too late.
- By the time the company collapsed around Memorial Day last year, they resolved to tell the truth and cooperate with the legal process.
- “Our duty, as we saw it, was to assist the government in learning everything it needed to know about what had happened, who had been hurt, and how it was all our fault,” they wrote.
- They said one of the most difficult parts of the process was being unable to talk to their former employees and investors.
- “The next thing is that we will each almost certainly be sentenced to serve time in federal prison,” they wrote. “We don’t know for how long, or where. That part will come soon enough. Until then, we are both here. Here to listen and make space to honor your feelings. If information can help create clarity, and clarity can help create peace, sign us up for that.”
- They ended the letter by saying they still love everyone and are profoundly sorry that their failures caused the company to collapse.
