SEC complains Australian man behind the machine” in a $ 41 million crypto fraud system-regulation
SEC complains Australian man behind the machine” in a $ 41 million crypto fraud system-regulation
The US stock exchange supervision SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) has accused an Australian citizen who described himself as a "man behind the machine" in a fraudulent crypto program in which almost $ 41 million was taken. He and his companies made "much false and misleading information related to a non -registered offer and sale of securities of digital assets".
SEC accused "Man behind the machine"
The SEC announced charges against Australian citizens Craig Sproule and two companies founded by him for “fraud from investors”. The two companies are Crowd Machine Inc. and Metavine Inc.
The securities supervisory authority stated that Sproules described themselves in social media postings as "Man Behind the Machine". In a first step, he claimed to have collected $ 40.7 million Coin offer (ICO) from Crowd Machine Compute token (CMCTS). The offer took place between January and April 2018.
Instead of using the ICO revenues for the purpose he told investors, the SEC:
crowd machine and sproule began to redirect more than $ 5.8 million of ico-proceeds to gold mining companies in South Africa-a use that has never been disclosed to investors.
The securities guard also said that Crowd Machine and Sproule did not register their offers and sales from CMCT token. In addition, they knowingly sold the tokens without determining whether investors were accredited.
Kristina Littman, head of the cyber unit of the SEC Enforcement Division, commented:
Sproule and Crowd Machine misleaded investors as they used the ICO revenue, and gave money for a completely independent program.
The complaint of the SEC "accuses Sproule and Crowd Machine to have violated the fraud control and registration provisions of the Federal Working Act".
The two defendant Metavine Pty. Ltd., a connected Australian company, approved judgments without admitting or denying the allegations.
You are prohibited from participating in future securities. Sproule is also forbidden to "act as a senior employee or director of a stock corporation, and [wants to be ordered] to pay a civil penalty of $ 195,047." In addition, the CMCT token must be deactivated and removed from crypto trading platforms.
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