Porn Valley- Xbiz.com reports: Stephen Michael Cohen, the man who hijacked Sex.com from Gary Kremen, was released from prison Dec. 5, XBIZ has confirmed. According to court documents, Judge James Ware of U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., granted Cohen’s release.
Former Sex.com owner Kremen, says Cohen was released because he persuaded the court he could not substantially gather financial records while incarcerated.
Judge Ware ordered Cohen to be held in jail indefinitely after he was arrested in October 2005, during which time the court was to determine Cohen’s assets. Cohen was found to have lied under oath about his ownership of two foreign accounts, Ware ruled.
Cohen was ordered to pay Kremen $65 million in 2005 after the court determined Cohen submitted a forged document to Network Solutions that won him control of Sex.com in 1995. Kremen won back the domain in 2001, and Cohen had been on the run until Mexican federal police caught him in late 2005.
According to court transcripts, Cohen allegedly transferred $4.5 million between banks shortly before he was arrested in Mexico. Cohen denies ownership of these accounts.
In 2001, Judge Ware ordered Cohen to place $25 million in the court’s control and not transfer any money between his accounts. Cohen has allegedly violated the judge’s ruling with the transfer.
Kremen told XBIZ that his private investigators discovered the accounts, one believed to originate in Lithuania, the other from Deutsche Bank, but cautioned that he believes there are others.
Cohen has been ordered to return to court Feb. 20, to present the court with his financial findings.
“He will have to show back up in court or there will be a warrant out for his arrest,” Kremen told XBIZ. “Somehow he convinced the court he couldn’t get proper access to his financial records from prison. That’s why he is a free man, for now.”
According to Kremen, the judge did not confiscate Cohen’s passport, despite the possible flight risk, so he could gather his financial records from various institutions, many of which are believed to be overseas.
“I truly hope he doesn’t flee the country,” Kremen said. “The judge asked if we thought his passport should be confiscated and I believe we said ‘no.'”
Kremen said he did not know Cohen’s whereabouts, but predicted he would know more in a week.