REUTERS/David McNew
Satoshi Nakamoto
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department issued a statement Friday confirming the accuracy of quotes that appeared in Leah McGrath Goodman's Newsweek article allegedly outing the founder of Bitcoin.
The Department said two sheriff's deputies were called to Nakamoto's home in Temple City when Goodman came there to interview him Feb. 20 and they both "agreed" that the quotes in the story were correct.
"I spoke to the two Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies who handled the call and who were present for the conversation," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Captain Mike Parker said. "Both sheriff's deputies agreed that the quotes published in the March 6, 2014, Newsweek magazine Bitcoin article that were attributed to the resident and to one of the deputies were accurate."
After Goodman's story was published Thursday, Nakamoto denied having anything to do with the cryptocurrency and said he was misunderstood by Goodman when he told her, "I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it." Nakamoto said he was referring to his engineering career and not confirming he was involved in the creation of the cryptocurrency. He did not claim he was inaccurately quoted, only that his words were misunderstood. Goodman also quoted one of the deputies as having said, "This is the guy who created Bitcoin? It looks like he's living a pretty humble life."
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department also provided details about why the pair of deputies responded to Nakamoto's home when Goodman came to interview him.
Read the other details the Department provided about the incident below:
At 2:09PM, on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014, Temple Sheriff's Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department received a suspicious person call in Temple City. The caller reported an unknown woman in her 20's was knocking on the door at his home, and sitting on his porch for the past hour. The caller said he was afraid to open the door.
Two deputies responded and spoke to the male resident caller and the woman. The woman identified herself as Newsweek reporter Leah Goodman and the resident expressed reluctance to talk to her. The deputies were present for the brief conversation between the two, and then the resident went back inside his home and the reporter left.
Earlier today, Arthur Nakamoto, Dorian's brother, indicated to BI that Goodman had misquoted or misunderstood his comments.