"Does Chris Mallic really deserve all the flack and personal attacks?"
Yes and then some. He knew the problems with lack of verification, which problems lie at the core of the ePass debacle and did nothing to abate them. He was playing fast and loose with US law, knowing full well of the then current verification requirements as well as the August 22 changes to both credit card and ATM rules. He did nothing to help or require ePass users to comply with USA laws and because both ePass and the SK bank were doing biz in the USA, both were subject to those laws, regardless of what many might think. In fact, Mallick subtly encourged many to join ePass by giving compliance a nod and a wink; more or less one of those "Nudge!, Nudge!, Know what I mean?, Know what I mean?" things.
I am quite certain that the SK bank found itself in violation of USA reporting requirements so because of the US so-called "long arm" statutes, therefore chose to ask VISA to punch ePass's ticket. Remember the two guys who headed up Netteller were prosecuted under those same "long arm" statutes a while back! They eventually let them go but all USA Netteller account holders, including Yours Truly, had their Nettelller accounts closed but we all got our money back in a timely manner.
This was a train wreck which could have been avoided had ePass management been proactive and demonstrated responsiblity and proper customer care in the first place.
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