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FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - Former Bitwise employees are yet receiving the colony wealth owed to them aft the illness of the tech company. This comes six months aft CEOs Jake Soberal and Irma Olguin Jr. were sentenced for a ligament fraud strategy and the theft of $115 million.
"We got a cheque successful the mail, and that's exciting. But the lone happening is that it wasn't truly what we were expecting," said erstwhile Bitwise worker Jenn Guerra.
Former employees person stayed successful touch, and the majority accidental they got the nonstop magnitude of $2,466.13. Each worker was awarded implicit $4,000, but taxes reduced the existent payout amount.
Guerra says she's owed overmuch more, arsenic her past cheque bounced, and she worked astir fractional of different paycheck earlier they were furloughed backmost successful 2023.
"It should beryllium astir astir apt similar $6,000," she claimed.
Attorney Rodger Bonakdar, who filed a class-action suit connected behalf of the employees, tells YourCentralValley that a 2nd cheque is expected adjacent year.
"The gross agreed colony retired of the bankruptcy property is $20 million. But from that, the bankruptcy trustee gets paid, the claims head gets paid, and secured assets and things besides got paid. But we got the employees astatine the beforehand of the enactment by agreeing to a precedence claim, giving them priority, due to the fact that different they would person been mode astatine the bottommost past and they would person ne'er seen a dime," helium explained.
Bonakdar continues to accidental that the colony statement and the organisation of checks to employees person been completed successful grounds time. And portion it mightiness not beryllium everything that the employees are owed, helium believes that each penny should beryllium seen arsenic a win.
"This is thing that mostly ne'er happens erstwhile a institution files for bankruptcy and they person unpaid payroll. That indebtedness gets washed retired by the bankruptcy court. So this is decidedly a immense triumph for the employees," Bonakdar added.
Jenn and different employees that YourCentralValley spoke with mentioned respective reddish flags earlier the disgraced tech institution filed for bankruptcy. One large interest was the power from nonstop deposit to insubstantial checks. One worker tells maine the insubstantial checks didn't amusement what was being taken out, raising suspicions that they mightiness beryllium owed more. They adhd that the institution halted aesculapian security sum and contributions to their 401(K).
"It was conscionable each adding up. And we were inactive like, what's going on? Because you privation to judge your CEOs that they're telling you the truth," Guerra said.
