SEC accuses Meta 1 Coin of conducting illegal ICO and appropriation of investor funds

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused the Meta 1 Coin cryptocurrency project of carrying outfraudulent ICO and misappropriation of $ 4.3 million from more than 150 investors.

The Commission appealed to the court, demanding urgentorder to freeze the assets of two Florida residents Robert Dunlap (Robert Dunlap) and Nicole Bowdler (Nicole Bowdler), as well as the assets of former Washington State Senator David Schmidt (David Schmidt). According to the SEC, these people were selling digital assets of Meta 1 Coin, which are unregistered securities, which violates the federal anti-fraud laws.

In addition, the project organizers introducedinvestors' delusion by providing them with false information that Meta 1 Coin tokens were provided with art objects worth $ 1 billion or $ 2 billion in gold. The presence of reserves was allegedly checked by an audit firm.

Investors were promised high returns of up to 224,923%,without any risks and losses. According to the SEC, the defendants used funds obtained through ICOs to cover personal expenses and to buy a $ 215,000 luxury Ferrari car. Some of the funds were scammers invested in two firms Pramana Capital Inc. and Peter K. Shamoun. In total, scammers raised more than $ 4.3 from 150 investors in the United States and abroad.

“We believe that the defendants provided falseinformation about Meta 1 Coin, and they could say anything to lure people into money. Investors should be skeptical of such offers, where huge profits are promised, and nothing can happen with investments, ”said David Peavler, SEC Regional Director.

The regulator requires imposing on the organizersMeta 1 Coin fraudulent civil sanctions scheme, as well as recover from them the entire amount of funds collected during the ICO, together with interest for the period until the court decision. As for the firms Pramana and Shamoun, the SEC requires that they return the money invested by representatives of Meta 1 Coin, since these funds were obtained by criminal means.

This month, the SEC won a lawsuit against the RussianICOBox project in a case of unregistered sale of tokens, obliging the startup founder to pay $16 million in fines and reimbursement of illegally obtained funds. Last month, the department fined actor Steven Seagal for promoting the ICO of the cryptocurrency project Bitcoiin2Gen and concealing the fact of receiving payment.

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