Tagged: enforcement

June 5, 2020 @ 4:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has obtained an asset freeze and other emergency relief against Daniel F. Putnam, of Utah, Jean Paul Ramirez Rico, of Colombia, and Angel A. Rodriguez, of Utah, who allegedly scammed over $12 million from over 2000 investors in a… Read More

May 28, 2020 @ 3:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

BitClave, a blockchain-based firm that completed an initial coin offering (ICO) for “Consumer Activity Tokens” (CAT) in 2017, has agreed to return investor money, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This is just the latest ICO that has had to backtrack on a… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 12:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this week, it was reported that Telegram has decided to abandon its initiative to launch a blockchain platform called TON (Telegram Open Network) and a cryptocurrency named Gram. The decision was the direct result of an ongoing enforcement action launched by the US Securities… Read More

April 24, 2020 @ 10:34 am By JD Alois  |  

The long march of crypto enforcement actions continued today when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed charges against Dropil and founders Jeremy McAlpine, Zachary Matar, and Patrick O’Hara pertaining to an initial coin offering (ICO). As has become fairly commonplace, the SEC is alleging… Read More

April 16, 2020 @ 2:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed fraud charges against Alan Friedland and his companies, Fintech Investment Group, Inc. and Compcoin LLC. The CFTC claims that Friedland and his Florida based firms fraudulently solicited over $1.6 million in connection with a leveraged or margined… Read More

April 9, 2020 @ 5:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

In 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) detected an intrusion of the Commission’s EDGAR test filing system that may have provided the basis for illicit gains. A vulnerability in EDGAR was promptly patched but it highlighted the perils of a financial system that is… Read More

March 16, 2020 @ 6:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Denis Georgiyevich Sotnikov and entities he controlled for allegedly participating in a scam to trap U.S. investors into buying fictitious Certificates of Deposit (CDs) via “spoofed” websites.  The SEC states that $26 million was stolen from investors…. Read More

March 10, 2020 @ 3:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received a default judgment against ICOBox and founder Nikolay Evdokimov for conducting an illegal $14.6 million securities offering. In a release, the SEC said that Judge Dale S. Fischer of the United States District Court for the Central… Read More

February 28, 2020 @ 7:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Recently the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), issued what is believed to be the first enforcement action against a bank dealing in digital assets. The target of the consent order was M.Y. Safra Bank. According to the Order, the bank was a… Read More

February 20, 2020 @ 5:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

As we have previously reported, Telegram is engaged in a legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in what may be the biggest SEC cryptocurrency case yet.  One the one side, you have Telegram that raised over a billion dollars from a digital… Read More

February 19, 2020 @ 1:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

Enigma MPC, formerly known as Newton Security Labs, has settled charges leveled by the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding an initial coin offering (ICO). The SEC had accused Enigma of conducting an unregistered securities offering. Enigma raised $45 million by selling… Read More

February 12, 2020 @ 3:38 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against Michael W. Ackerman, of Sheffield Lake, Ohio, who allegedly organized a cryptocurrency trading scheme that raised approximately $33 million. The SEC said that about 150 investors including many physicians, lost money in the alleged fraud…. Read More

January 20, 2020 @ 10:12 am By Cali Haan  |  

In its latest submission in a case against private messaging app provider Telegram, the SEC claims that, Telegram has been using funds raised to develop the TON blockchain to rather cover operating expenses at the messaging business. Telegram raised $1.7 billion USD from 171 purchasers… Read More

January 17, 2020 @ 11:35 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced another enforcement action targeting a bogus initial coin offering (ICO). According to a release, the SEC has charged convicted criminal Boaz Manor, his business associate, and two businesses, CG Blockchain Inc. and BCT Inc. SEZC, with raising… Read More

January 12, 2020 @ 8:43 am By Cali Haan  |  

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking a default judgment against Nikolay Evdokimov and his Cayman Islands firm ICOBox. The agency is also seeking permanent enjoinment of Evdokimov and ICOBox, a $16,059,428.99 disgorgement and a civil penalty against Evdokimov of about $190 000… Read More

January 11, 2020 @ 7:47 am By Cali Haan  |  

In the SEC’s January 2nd letter requesting compulsion of bank records from private messaging app provider Telegram, the regulator claimed it had documents showing that Telegram, “paid commissions to purchasers who were buying Grams to resell to other investors…” Brokered sales, the SEC wrote, “render… Read More

January 7, 2020 @ 4:03 pm By JD Alois  |  

Telegram, issuer of one of the highest-profile token offerings of all time that raised $1.7 billion, is in the midst of a protracted legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Last October, the SEC filed an emergency action and obtained a temporary restraining… Read More

January 7, 2020 @ 3:16 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The judge presiding over an SEC case alleging Telegram sold unlicensed securities has denied the SEC’s request for immediate disclosure of bank records relating to Telegram’s $1.7 billion sale of GRAM cryptographic tokens. Instead, Judge P. Kevin Castel has ordered the private messaging company to, “set… Read More

January 4, 2020 @ 9:24 am By Cali Haan  |  

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked a judge to order Telegram to submit bank records detailing how it has been spending $1.7 billion USD it raised from investors in 2018, Finance Magnates(FM) reports. Telegram is currently contesting emergency orders obtained by the… Read More

January 4, 2020 @ 9:16 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that Longfin Corp. CEO Venkata S. Meenavalli has agreed to pay $400,000 in disgorgement and penalties to resolve the SEC’s fraud action against him. Longfin was a blockchain-focused company that completed a Reg A+ securities offering and quickly… Read More