The allegations against Terik Brown have now escalated from theft of Bitcoin to physical intimidation and ominous telephone calls.
Lynne Beaumont and Terik Brown are solid if relatively small-scale poker pros. Brown has around $400k in live tourney cashes. Beaumont has insinuated that Brown is not so great at keeping his hands on his winnings, though. Beaumont herself has about $600k in cashes and was a sponsored pro for Betfred, a UK bookie. She is currently in the UK. However, in pre-COVID times she split her time between the UK and Vegas. Brown is Vegas-based.
Their strange interaction has garnered more headlines for the pair of them than almost anything else in their careers.
Lynne Beaumont initially made a series of accusations against Brown in a Facebook thread. In the thread, Beaumont claims to have invested money with Brown's Bank of Bitcoin. After requesting a withdrawal of her investment, Beaumont claims Brown ghosted her.
"Frankly, he has sold his soul for $27k - almost 4 BTC," Beaumont wrote in the Facebook post. "That is now worth over $200k. I feel genuinely very sick about this. This should be a very exciting time for me, and he has spoiled that. This money is incredibly significant to me."
Brown's LinkedIn page lists him as Business Development Manager at Bank of Bitcoin, suggesting that he is still operating his business despite failing to pay Beaumont back.
Now, a few weeks after she wrote that thread, Beaumont is adding intimidation to the list of her accusations.
A stranger calls
Beaumont describes a visit to her old address, captured on a security camera.
The visit is from someone claiming to be a courier, but who behaves in an unusual manner. The "courier" pushes the new resident of the house for a forwarding address. This is unusual for delivery people in the UK, where failure to deliver usually means a prompt return trip for the package to a warehouse or the local post office. The security camera footage was posted to YouTube and can be viewed below.
The day after the visit, Beaumont says she received a phone call from a woman with a similar voice.
The caller claimed to be calling from Bank of Bitcoin. She told Beaumont to stop defaming Brown. She hung up quickly when Beaumont challenged her on the term "defamation." Beaumont pointed out that it's only defamation if it isn't true.
Trans-Atlantic defamation
If Beaumont's story is true, this marks a rather desperate ploy on Brown's part. If he genuinely wishes to charge Beaumont with defamation, he is far better off doing so in the UK. In the courts of England and Wales, libel laws put the onus on the defendant to prove that their allegedly libelous statement is true.
He should hire a lawyer. More likely, though — given the fly-by-night appearance of Brown's numerous "businesses" — this was a shot at getting Beaumont to shut up on the cheap. It does not appear to have worked as yet. Beaumont is still talking to the poker press.
Poker.org has reached out to Terik Brown for comment and has not yet received a reply.
Featured image source: Screen capture from Youtube
