A rift between Gala Games co-founders has led to two lawsuits filed against each other in the Utah District Court. Eric Schiermeyer, who also serves as Gala Games' CEO, charges that his co-founder, Wright Thurston, and his firm True North United Investments, stole around $130 million worth of GALA tokens associated with Gala Games' ecosystem back in early 2021. According to Schiermeyer's lawsuit, GALA tokens initially transferred to a company-controlled wallet were subsequently moved to 43 d ifferent wallets by Thurston. When questioned about these transactions, Thurston claimed to have retained the tokens in Gala's secure wallet. However, he later moved the tokens from the wallet and allegedly conducted a series of complex transactions between September 2022 and May 2023.Schiermeyer's lawsuit rejects Thurston's assertion that the GALA tokens sold belonged to him.
In addition to these allegations, Thurston is also accused of stealing a license that allowed him to operate a Gala ecosystem node, which generated GALA tokens. He purportedly sold this license and retained the proceeds. On the same day, True North, represented by Thurston , filed a lawsuit against Schiermeyer on behalf of Gala Games, asserting that Schiermeyer's actions led the company to squander millions of dollars in assets. Furthermore, it was claimed that Schiermeyer lent millions of dollars from Gala Games for personal expenditures.
Schiermeyer has also been accused of establishing Gala entities in Switzerland and Dubai and making himself the controlling shareholder without the involvement of Gala Games director Thurston. True North alleges that Schiermeyer operated Gala without proper consultation and provided Thurs ton with incomplete or inaccurate information and company records despite repeated requests. The lawsuit filed by True North seeks Schiermeyer's removal as Gala director and demands various forms of relief and damages, including the return of the purportedly stolen GALA tokens.
Thurston has simultaneously called for Schiermeyer's removal from Gala Games and seeks at least $750 million in damages and relief. In March, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Thurston, True North, and another of Thurston's firms called Green United, alleging their involved in a fraudulent cryptocurrency mining scheme. CNN has reached out to legal representatives for both Schiermeyer and Thurston for comments on these ongoing legal disputes.
