The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is continuing its pursuit of platforms that are issuing digital assets without being registered as securities. In a lawsuit filed today against Chicago Crypto Capital LLC (CCC) and several executives, the SEC alleges the defendants defrauded investors.
According to the SEC, CCC owner Brian Amoah, former salesmen Darcas Oliver Young, and Elbert “Al” Elliott are the target of an SEC complaint which alleges the defrauding of investors during their “unregistered offering of crypto asset securities.”
The complaint claims that from August 2018 to November 2019, BXY tokens were sold to about 100 individuals raising $1.5 million in an unregistered offering – nor did it qualify for an exemption. As well, the complaint claims that the defendants were not registered as brokers. The BXY tokens were said to have been sold to “unaccredited and inexperienced crypto investors.”
The SEC also alleges that each of the defendants made materially false and misleading statements in the offer or sale of BXY tokens.
The alleged fraud claims that some of the investors never received their BXY tokens, and all those who invested paid an undisclosed markup on their BXY tokens.
The SEC seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement with pre-judgment interest, and civil penalties. The SEC states that it has accepted an offer of settlement from Young, in which he consented to the payment of disgorgement and a civil penalty, an associational bar, and injunctive relief.