Malkin hires lawyer to get him out of crypto-currency scandal

On Monday, a report from Russian hockey insider Aivis Kalnins shocked many when it was revealed that Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Evgeni Malkin could find himself in “serious legal issues” regarding a failed $4 million investment in a Russian crypto-currency scheme.

It has now been reported that Malkin has hired a lawyer in Russia to investigate how his name became linked to million-dollar losses at a cryptocurrency company in that country called Mark.Space.

According to Malkin’s agent J.P. Barry, his client is discussing the case with lawyers and plans to hire one to investigate the report’s claims.

Barry went ahead and explained that Malkin did invest about $2 million in a clothing company startup that was operated by a long-time friend. That company later began selling clothing online, but Barry said Malkin was never made aware that it was in the cryptocurrency industry.

“This is about two [business] partners going at each other and Geno now has to figure out what happened,” Barry said, per TSN. “A lawyer will have to go in and get all the documents and figure out what happened with the company.”

What has been frustrating for Malkin and Barry is that no one from Sport.ru, who were first to report the scheme and Malkin’s links to it, contacted him or the Penguins star player to request comment before it published its report.

When Malkin was asked about the scandal as he awaits to return from a lower-body injury, he was quite blunt with his answer. 

“No, the internet – it’s garbage,” Malkin said, according to Pittsburghhockeynow.com. “I don’t like the internet. …Right now, it’s garbage for me. I know I’m a good guy. I don’t know what to say about that, because it’s a little bit crazy for me, but I know it’s nothing bad.”