Armonk businessman’s crypto friendship goes bust

An Armonk businessman is demanding $1 million from a fellow cryptocurrency enthusiast who he claims has refused to return 18 borrowed bitcoins.

Julian Mear, of Danbury, Connecticut accused Robert Caputo, of Harrison, of unjust enrichment in a complaint filed on Oct. 10 in U.S. District Court, White Plains.

“Restitution is required by equity, good conscience, and morality,” the complaint states, “based upon the close relationship between plaintiff and defendant, the loan … being induced in reliance on that relationship, and the benefits received by the defendant.”

Mear says he manages a family business in Armonk, but did not identify it. According to a LinkedIn profile, he is CEO of Automated Marking Inc. and president of Synergy 1 Real Estate.

His complaint describes Caputo as a successful businessman in large ventures, such as iAero Group, an aircraft charter company whose main hub was at Miami International Airport.

As a result of Caputo’s track record and their friendship, the complaint states, Mear “deeply trusted [Caputo’s] business acumen.”

Around 2015 the men began discussing cryptocurrencies, frequently meeting at Mear’s Armonk offices, according to the complaint. In February 2018 Caputo proposed a deal.

Caputo wanted to borrow bitcoins to invest with ex-Wall Street traders he didn’t identify.

Mear loaned 20 bitcoins to Caputo, the complaint states, and Caputo agreed to make monthly interest payments and pay back 30 bitcoins in a year.

In late February 2018, bitcoins were trading at around $10,000, putting the value of 20 bitcoins at about $200,000.

Caputo paid Mear $6,000 in cash and returned two bitcoins in September 2019, as partial repayments, according to the complaint. Ever since, Caputo has allegedly declined to return the remaining 18 bitcoins.

In April 2020, for instance, Caputo told Mear that he would personally “back-stop” the investment, the complaint states. He had obtained a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan that would allow him to repay the loan and he was also receiving a $1 million annual salary.

Mear says the payments were never made.

Even so, from 2018 to early 2024 Mear and Caputo continued to have friendly conversations at Mear’s Armonk offices. Out of a sense of friendship and trust, he says, he refrained from demanding repayment.

Then this past April, Caputo identified his investor and said he had not been paid back because the investor’s bank account was shut down in 2018.

On Aug. 30, Caputo allegedly repudiated the deal and directed Mear to seek repayment from the investor.

Instead, Mear sued for breach of contract and unjust enrichment, demanding the value of 18 bitcoins at the current price: $1 million.

Caputo’s iAero Group and several affiliates filed for bankruptcy protection last year in Florida and ceased operations this past April, according to news accounts.

Efforts to find contact information for Caputo, to ask for his side of the story, were unsuccessful.