Hi @perennial
I know I was blinded by something when it came to Ben. Since I first saw his posts on Steemit, I watched his journey, as I thought he could be a rising star.
I think the seizures and fits were real, as @littlenewthings said, we spoke to him in hospital and for the brief time he was in UK, I had the ambulance paramedic call me up to tell me he had a seizure then too.
I see the good in people and it's in him, but its been suffocated by whatever addictions he is afflicted with, whether that be heroin, gambling or scamming people.
I hope he learns that the actions we took to help him came from a place of genuine compassion and that he realises that if he keeps throwing that back in peoples faces and continues scamming, karma will have it that his streak of bad luck is self made and will continue.
I believe there is some truth to whatever he said to lend credibility to his excuses. That is often how it works. However there are also unsubstantiated facts such as loss of his recovery key, the utility of whatever he claimed his pandacoin is worth and the people that worked on his pandacoin, none of this has been explained.
I think @littlenewthings and myself did ask our friends who attended the steemfest to find him and pass him some cash to assist him. But again what we hear was different versions of stories going around and his inability to be contacted was quite mind boggling. His sudden departure from the Air BnB accommodation in Malaysia was also a bit surprising as it is the first time I see someone not minding to pay above market price for his accommodation and claims he has the ability to pay. I am sure there is a different version from the landlord. I am sceptical because I can find the smooth transition between his stories.