The brothers blasted for taking advantage of the feel-good sharing economy by squatting in their Airbnb rental and failing to deliver on their $40,000 Kickstarter project finally got their wrists slapped on Thursday.
Kickstarter suspended their latest money-raising efforts — which had attracted $921 in donations just weeks after they seemed to celebrate walking away with their first money grab.
As soon as the suspension hit Maksym and Denys Pashanin, 85 contributors to their latest project, a video game called “Knuckle Club,” cheered.
The backers will not be charged.
The brothers Pashanin, who hoped to raise $25,000 for “Knuckle Club,” have been vilified as new-age scammers for allegedly preying on proponents of Kickstarter and Airbnb, which let regular folks make money from strangers.
Their Airbnb host in Palm Springs, Calif., for example, has accused the brothers of taking advantage of California’s lenient tenant laws to live in her one-bedroom condo rent free — after paying for the first 30 days of a supposed 45-day rental.
The brothers were also blasted by the Kickstarter community for missing deadlines for their first video game, “Confederate Express.” Backers of that game, who contributed close to $40,000, told
The Post they don’t expect the money back because the campaign closed last year.
But Kickstarter fans had grown increasingly irate each day this week as they saw the dollars raised for “Knuckle Club” click up every day — knowing the pair have a shady past.
Kickstarter, which lets people raise money from strangers to fund their ideas, said it suspends campaigns “when we find strong evidence that they are misrepresenting themselves or otherwise violating the letter or spirit of Kickstarter’s rules.”
Airbnb has paid Cory Tschogl, the owner of the Palm Springs condo, what she was owed on the remainder of the brothers’ reservation. The start-up has also promised Tschogl that it will help her evict the squatters.
But Tschogl, a therapist, expressed doubts in a Thursday tweet about the company’s dedication to her woes.
“Still hoping @airbnb steps up,” she tweeted.