DISCLOSURE: DUNSMOOR LAW IS CLOSED AS OF NOVEMBER 2, 2023. SEE DUNSMOOR.IO THIS INFORMATION IS TO PROTECT THE INVESTING PUBLIC. NOTHING IN THIS ARTICLE IS LEGAL, FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVICE.
TL;DR: Cal Evans of Gresham International has a history of making false claims about his education, professional experience, and affiliations. By examining his new commencement post and public records, we expose a pattern of lies and mistruths designed to continue to deceive the public. This article emphasizes the importance of due diligence and fact-checking to avoid falling victim to scammers like Evans.
Disclaimer: In no way, shape, or form do I believe the University of Surrey, the law school, or whatever the “Forever Surrey” social media account is, knew about these falsities or intentionally promoted them to the public. We have all been scammed; however, they should do the correct thing and publicly denounce their association with Cal Evans of Gresham International. (I am awaiting their response to this article).
I. Facebook Scammers and Kids
Damn, I hate scammers. I unknowingly helped a scam post on Facebook that involved sharing a post about a missing kid. Who would have thought that such a harmless and “noble” goal of sharing a post about a kid who had gone missing would lead to a scam, but welcome to 2024! So, in an effort to combat that type of scam and to avoid scammers, we are going to discuss the Facebook scam and how to conduct basic due diligence on a post (This information can also be used by organizations like the British Blockchain Association to review who they allow on their board or for conferences to screen speakers, with the latter being limited by time, manner, and money restrictions).
Now, I’ve covered this little guy’s face even though it is likely he is artificially generated (more on that in another post) but his has all his correct fingers that we can see from the post and his letters on his shirt are spelled correctly, so I’m going to assume it may be real but those are good signs that a picture is artificially generated (for now). Now, yes, there are two of the same photos but anyone with parents or a fat finger knows that that can happen in the Facebook era. What should catch your eye and what was brought to my attention is what is MISSING here, there is no contact information and, while it is difficult to see from this screenshot, there are no comments allowed! That’s super odd along with “It only takes 2 seconds to share” prompt that does not make sense in this context. Of course, it does but why mention that? So, the literal multi-million-dollar question is why do scammers post this type of content? That’s the question I wanted to know and the answer is because, thanks to Facebook’s inability to show when a post has been modified, the scammers change the post to be about some gift card or something else involving money or they attempt to steal your Facebook account for more scams. They do this by, when people click on the link and provide access to their computer via the link (Number 1 Rule of the Internet right now is never click on anything you do not know who and where it came from) or they provide a link to have you redirected to what looks like a Facebook page to have you log in and they steal your account. (I didn’t click on the link but this is what my cyber security guy told me). Either way, super shady and shitty behavior by using social engineering to prey on those that just believe they are trying to help a kid, with autism no less!
II. Cal Evans, the University of Surrey, and Fact Checking
Now, conversely, we looked at what was missing from a post. This will allow us to now look at not only what was included but also what is missing in the record of the Internet and how to avoid these types of lies and mistruths.
Similar to the Facebook post, this one I also believed was written by a known scammer, Cal Evans of Gresham International. And, as with the Facebook post, the devil is in the details.
We will be taking this line by line for the lies and mistruths but first we need to examine the authorship as we did with the Facebook post. We can see the style of the writer was Evans given his inability to use grammar and spelling correctly along with the inappropriate capitalizations of words. (He has a long history of this including but not limited to the “State (sic) of the State (sic) of Pensilvania (sic)”; Pennsylvania is a commonwealth.)
(Source: https://gresham-international.gitbook.io/gresham-international-website-documents/special-notice-harassment-from-mr.-dunsmoor. And more on that here: PART II: The Comedy of Evans — How the Pennsylvania Bar was Scammed & Exposed Its Unconstitutional Attorney Discipline System https://dunsmoorlaw.com/2024/05/28/part-ii-the-comedy-of-evans-how-the-pennsylvania-bar-was-scammed-exposed-its-unconstitutional-attorney-discipline-system/)
Now onto the post:
We are delighted that alum Cal Evans will be speaking at today’s Law (sic) graduation ceremony.
Cal is a 2009 Graduate (sic) of the UOS School of Law. After graduating Surrey (sic), Cal also achieved his LPC (College of Law) and an (sic) MBA (Singapore). Cal has pioneered in the Digital Asset (sic) space and is considered one of the industries (sic) most notable people. Working as an International Lawyer (sic), Government Advisor (sic), and Entrepreneur (sic). In 2016 Cal started Gresham International, one of the worlds (sic) leading Digital Asset (sic) Law Firms (sic). He has worked with some of the largest financial and tech companies in the world. Alongside his work at Gresham, he also founded (and exited) several tech companies including Fortune Wallet, KlixTex, and others. Outside of his work, Cal writes for industry publications and also authored The Little Book of Crypto. During his time with Gresham (sic) he has also assisted several governments including the UK Blockchain Taskforce (Bank of England, FCA, and Treasury) and co-written Digital Asset (sic) laws in other countries.
Thank you Cal for sharing your learnings (not incorrect but odd word choice) with our new graduates!
Now my former paralegals, co-counsels, opposing counsels, judges, professors and current and past business partners will tell you, I’m not a stickler for grammar or spelling, but when the publication is going world-wide, well, let’s say no excuses, play like a champion. And, for the record, 14 improper capitalizations, grammatical errors, or spelling mistakes means there is no champion around. So, now that I believe it is reasonably certain that Evans wrote this self-congratulatory list of falsehoods about himself, let’s take them one-by-one.
III. The Analysis of Each Statement
Disclaimer: All of this information is publicly available via Google.
1. Cal is a 2009 Graduate (sic) of the UOS School of Law.: We can reasonably assume that he is a graduate of the of the law school since he is speaking at their graduation. However, what we get to gleam from this tremendous insight (as showcased in other articles about Evans’ lies) is that he does not have honors with his LLB from Surrey. He would definitely have mentioned that had he actually managed that achievement. Comparing his public LinkedIn “(Hons)” to this public statement is enough to prove that something is a lie.
(Source: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrcalevans/ accessed January 2024. Note you may have to sign up for LinkedIn as he continues to limit his public profile which is another red flag)
2. After graduating Surrey (sic), Cal also achieved his LPC (College of Law): This is one of the many reasons I’ve started the FERPA Initiative to make limited educational records more accessible to the public as it is impossible to verify this information with the College of Law thanks to UK privacy Acts. However, while we from a scientific perspective cannot prove with 100% certainty that this did not happen, we can reasonably assume it is false since Evans did not mention it at all in his U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings (because that would be securities fraud) and has not actually become a solicitor in the United Kingdom (he’s only a CILEX Chartered Legal Executive) because this is a prerequisite to that accomplishment. As a result, it is fair to say with reasonable certainty this is false.
(Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1675390/000167539021000001/someec.pdf;it should also be noted that “(Hons)” with his LLB does not appear here because it would be securities fraud. Lastly, we can tell it is Evans who wrote this by “Cal presently opertates (sic) Gresham International…”, “Security Token Compliance (sic),” and “Strategy (sic)”)
3. And an (sic) MBA (Singapore).: Now the SEC filing was dated in 2021 and per his LinkedIn he received this degree from January 2023 to June 2023 which is odd because most MBA’s are at least two years but normally a one year minimum. In fact, when looking into the “Singapore Business School” instead of the generic “Singapore” he uses in this post, it will confirm that the Singapore Business School is nowhere near the requirements of the ranked Singapore schools. Reviewing their financial fees alone you’re $3,000 all in for Singapore Business School with nationally ranked institutions starting at $87,000 and requiring a minimum of 10 months to finish, not the 6 months Evans possibly completed this “MBA” in. (https://www.sbs-online.world/mba/fee-structure; https://www.topuniversities.com/mba-rankings/asia; https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/singapore/economics-business; https://www.universityguru.com/business-schools–singapore; https://www.topmba.com/where-to-study/asia/singapore/guide; https://www.mbacrystalball.com/business-schools/singapore/ )
Now this is not to say that the Singapore Business School is not a legitimate institution or that their education isn’t of high quality, it’s just highly suspect not to be on any of those lists and completely misleading of Evans to use “Singapore” when there are so many prestigious institutions there. Thus, the inability to prove the he actually has this degree is suspect. After all, he posted this picture of himself speaking at the Surrey event. It seems appropriate that given his bravado that he would have taken the time to do one of his humble brags.
(Source: https://www.instagram.com/mrcalevans/p/C-Im_e-AfNS/?hl=en&img_index=1. Notice the possible Freudian slip of “not so seasoned” comment)
4. Cal has pioneered in the Digital Asset (sic) space and is considered one of the industries (sic) most notable people.: We’ve covered a lot of this in Part VI, but Evans lies about him being a pioneer are about as accurate as him being able to utilize proper grammar and spelling. Anyone can call themselves a pioneer and if you search his name, you will see the vast majority of his publications that claim notary are clients of Gresham International or events he has paid to speak at. This is not what notable, pioneering people do. Google is truly your best friend for performing basic due diligence for these types of matters. Utilizing quotation marks and a specific term you’re looking for such as “Cal Evans” and “scams” will provide extraordinary results on forums and other postings in which his exploits are highlighted.
5. Working as an International Lawyer (sic), Government Advisor (sic), and Entrepreneur (sic).: Once again these terms are not necessarily regulated, therefore nearly anyone can use them with the minimum/major exception of “lawyer.” He is a CILEX Chartered Legal Executive which means he has very limited practice rights in the UK in which that jurisdiction has licensed him but it does allow for him to call himself a lawyer. Other jurisdictions in which he claims he are licensed are suspect for reasons we will be discussing later he may have lied on several applications for admission and, given his history here, we are reasonably certain that is the case.
6. In 2016 Cal started Gresham International, one of the worlds (sic) leading Digital Asset (sic) Law Firms (sic).: This is an incredibly important statement in that it cannot be proven with anything other than facts. When you look for lawyers, especially specific or so-called specialized lawyers (though specialized may be an ethical restriction in certain jurisdictions), it should be something that you research thoroughly. And, at first blush, Gresham International does have an extensive web presence but if you dig deep enough you find problems including limited licensing or incorrect licensing information such as claiming the American Bar Association is a regulatory, as discussed here (Understanding Basic Due Diligence: The American Bar Association is NOT a Regulatory Authority https://dunsmoorlaw.com/2024/06/25/understanding-basic-due-diligence-the-american-bar-association-is-not-a-regulatory-authority/). Or you find a glaring contraction that warrants more inquiry, such as when you go to the Trustpilot website that has reviews for companies, you see that he was providing legal advice in 2017 in the United States.
(Source: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/greshaminternational.com)
But you notice that Gresham International does not mention anything about being licensed in the United States during that period and that the CILEX website you will see that Evans was licensed with them on April 26, 2019. This is a subtle but huge red flag when looking for a lawyer especially in the States. They should state when and where they are licensed and what dates as I did with New York and my temporary admission pro hac vice in Pennsylvania. (Part II:) Any attorney fully licensed in that state should be able to be found via a simple Google search of “(insert state name) attorney directory” and inputting their name into of a .gov website. (Note, temporary pro hac vice licensed or in-house admissions may not always show up. This is a personal and professional project I am working on to make standard across the United States as attorneys are some of the most powerful people in our society and we should know who is licensed, even temporarily, and when and where.)
7. He has worked with some of the largest financial and tech companies in the world.: This is the same type of statement as “It only takes two seconds to share!” You read it so quickly that your brain may just accept it as facts but, without mentioning names specifically, you should never trust these types of statements. They are not backed up by anything. Specifically, he claims to have worked for Facebook’s Libra project but that is not on here and most people would include that.
(Source: https://x.com/Brit_blockchain/status/1143989536051093504. Also note the failure to acknowledge the “LLM” or Masters of Law in his Surrey commencement post, SEC filing, or LinkedIn profile despite this event occurring in 2019. I fundamentally disagree with the tagline “Advocating Evidence Based Blockchain”).
8. Alongside his work at Gresham, he also founded (and exited) several tech companies including Fortune Wallet, KlixTex, and others.: Now this is important, the founding of a company and especially one that exits are events in which any startup founder will tell you are incredibly stressful and rewarding. So successful exits are generally worth bragging about and have press or at least a social media post about who they are being sold to or bought by, something. But that’s where these lies fall apart, Fortune Wallet has no known success as the website is still up and all the social media links revert to Wix defaults (https://www.fortune-wallet.com/). Similarly, if you Google search “KlixTex” the only results are (and I’m not making this up, you can try it for yourself) this Surrey commencement post and the formation filing with the State of Wyoming (a state in which he is currently being sued for fraud in relationship to the Freeway/Aubit scam. Source: https://www.offshorealert.com/ledgerscore-pte-ltd-et-al-v-aubit-x-llc-et-al-complaint-160m-crypto-investment-scam/)
(Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22KlixTex%22)
9. Outside of his work, Cal writes for industry publications and also authored The Little Book of Crypto.: Being an author is hard and a stressful task, however, I will let Cointelegraph’s (who Evans used to write for) Jack Martin give you my thoughts on this piece of work:
So, would I recommend this book? Well, perhaps bizarrely, I am genuinely glad that I’ve read it… in the same way that I’m glad that I’ve watched The Room. It made me smile lovingly at all the wrong places.
As a reference work on cryptocurrency, it’s a “No,” but, sorry, it’s just a “No.” In the immortal words of the author, it’s “as impacting as chewing gum on the sidewalk: annoying in every sense.”
(Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/book-review-the-little-book-of-crypto.)
10. During his time with Gresham (sic) he has also assisted several governments including the UK Blockchain Taskforce (Bank of England, FCA, and Treasury) and co-written Digital Asset (sic) laws in other countries.: This is by far the most troubling aspect of this entire paragraph of lies and mistruths. The sheer utter audacity to state that you are part of a “UK Blockchain Taskforce” without any proof, whatsoever, is nothing short of fraudulent behavior. Don’t believe me? Google it yourself. There results even when in the United Kingdom are nearly all of the results are correlated with Evans! (Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22UK+Blockchain+Taskforce%22&oq=%22UK+Blockchain+Taskforce%22; minus a Debrief that sounds a lot like it is referencing Evans “TAN’s non-tokenized competitor, Legal Nodes looks well-established with law firms and claims luminaries such as the legal advisor for the popular messaging app, Telegram and the lawyer to the UK Blockchain Taskforce (although it declines to name those individuals on its site).” https://decrypt.co/6182/safe-haven-blockchain-law-cryptocurrency-vechain)
And, no you cannot make this up, another rug pull that Evans was involved in named Ardana mentions the same “UK Blockchain Taskforce.” (See https://medium.com/ardana-hub/meet-ardanas-team-of-advisors-dabd0ffa1dce and https://www.reddit.com/r/cardano/comments/16m2gsk/ardana_rugpull_was_recently_exposed_check_out_the/).
What is incredibly troubling, is that given all this, given every piece of readily accessible piece of information people are still fooled and scammed because surely someone wouldn’t lie about their credentials just like someone wouldn’t lie about A KID WITH AUTISM BEING MISSING!
(Source: https://www.instagram.com/mrcalevans/p/C06yYWAMyrU/)
(Eagled-eyed readers will notice I did not touch the statement “and co-written Digital Asset (sic) laws in other countries.” and that is because it is going to be a massive future article on all the facts and circumstances around this statement from the numerous governments themselves.)
IV. The Summary & My Conclusion
Cal Evans of Gresham International has a long history of making false and misleading claims about his background and qualifications. Upon closer examination of his public statements and records, a clear pattern of deception emerges.
Evans has made numerous claims about his educational achievements, including an LLB with honors, an LPC from the College of Law, and an MBA from Singapore. However, these claims are either unverifiable or contradicted by other sources, such as his SEC filings and the lack of recognition from reputable institutions.
Similarly, Evans’ professional experience is filled with exaggerations and outright lies. He claims to have worked with major financial and tech companies, founded successful startups, and even assisted governments and regulatory bodies. Yet, there is little to no evidence to support these assertions, and in some cases, his claims are directly contradicted by available information.
Furthermore, Evans has repeatedly misrepresented his affiliations and associations. He has claimed to be part of a “UK Blockchain Taskforce” and to have co-written digital asset laws in other countries, but there is no proof of these involvements. In fact, the only references to these alleged accomplishments seem to originate from Evans himself or from projects he has been associated with, many of which have turned out to be scams or failures.
This article serves as a warning to the public and the blockchain industry about the dangers of taking claims at face value. It emphasizes the importance of thorough due diligence and fact-checking to avoid falling victim to scammers and fraudsters like Cal Evans. By exposing his lies and mistruths, we hope to protect others from being misled and to hold Evans accountable for his actions.
In conclusion, I’m sure Evans will say “oh it’s my British English” (a lie he has used before with Wisconsin; see page X) and I’m shortening things in the way us Brits like to do! But that’s also what scammers do! His use of “UK Blockchain Taskforce” as something that sounds legitimate is what would be utilized by people to verify his claims. Or that his “LPC (College of Law)” is what he meant when he said “LL.M” and he didn’t really mean he worked for the Facebook Libra project he just founded a company called “Face Booke Labri” and it was misspelled on the British Blockchain Association post, in 2019. Two months after being licensed by CILEX.
But, just as I’m sick of scammers trying to prey on individuals who believe a kid is missing, I’m tired of an unscrupulous, fraudster preying on the industry and people I genuinely believe are necessary for us to evolve past the world of all of these scammers. After all, if his LLB with honors, LLM, MBA, LPC, and any other claims he has made were actually verifiable through a blockchain, he would not nearly be able to pull the wool over people’s eyes so easily.
This man is a liar, scammer, and fraudster. He should not be trusted and the fact he is rubbing elbows with “MPs, Ministers, and the Bodies (sic) such as the Bank of England” (See Instagram post above) while claiming to be on a non-existent “UK Blockchain Taskforce” makes him an existential threat to the blockchain industry as a whole.