The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused the Meta 1 Coin cryptocurrency project of conducting a fraudulent ICO and conversion $4.3 million from more than 150 investors.
The Commission appealed to the court, demanding to freeze assets of two residents of Florida, Robert Dunlap and Nicole Bowdler, as well as the assets of ex-senator in Washington David Schmidt. According to the SEC, these people sold Meta 1 Coin digital assets that are unregistered securities, which violates the provisions of Federal anti-fraud laws.
Besides, the developer deluded investors by providing them false information that Meta 1 Coin tokens were provided $1 billion art objects or $2 billion of gold. The audit firm checked the reserve’s availability.
Investors were promised a high return of up to 224,923%, without any risks and losses. According to the SEC, the defendants used funds obtained through ICQ to cover personal expenses and purchase a luxury Ferrari car worth $215,000. The scammers in two firms Pramana Capital Inc. and Peter K. Shamoun invested portions of the proceeds. In total, the scammers collected more than $4.3 from 150 investors in the US and abroad.
«We believe that the accused provided false information about Meta 1 Coin and could have said anything to extort money from people. Investors should be skeptical of such proposals where a huge profit is promised and nothing can happen to investments, » said David Peavler, Director of the SEC’s regional office.
The regulator requires civil penalties to be imposed on the organizers of the Meta 1 Coin fraudulent scheme, as well as to recover from them the entire amount of funds collected during the ICO, along with interest for the period before the court decision is made. 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 court case against the Russian project Isobox in the case of unregistered token sales, obliging the startup’s founder to pay $16 million in fines and compensation for illegally obtained funds. Last month, the Agency fined actor Steven Seagal for promoting the ICO of the cryptocurrency project Bitcoiin2Gen and for hiding the fact of receiving payment.
