The court found the ICO of a Russian startup illegal

The American court ordered the founder of the company ICOBox Nikolai Evdokimov to pay more than $ 16 million fine.

California Central District Court satisfiedSEC petition and recognized the placement of coins (conducted by ICOBox without registration) as an illegal sale of securities. In addition, the court ruled that the company acted as a broker-dealer without a license, collecting $ 14.6 million from the illegal sale of its own tokens.

The judge ruled that ICOBox and Evdokimov bearequal liability for payment of compensation for unlawfully obtained profits, and was also ordered to pay a fine in the amount of $1,459,428.99 – a total of more than $16 million.

Since 2017, the company conducted a number of ICOs and raised funds from more than 2,000 investors.

The regulator claims that the company introducedinvestors misleading, hiding the lack of a license. By actively involving investors in offers of securities without registration, the defendants, according to the SEC, are engaged in unregistered brokerage activities that violate federal securities laws.