SECs cyber unit files charges against an ICO fraud

The SEC said in a statement that it had obtained an emergency order to halt the company’s ICO, which had raised up to USD 15 million from thousands of investors since August 2017 by falsely promising a 13-fold profit in less than a month, according to Reuters.

The SEC’s complaint alleges that Dominic Lacroix of PlexCorps marketed and sold securities called PlexCoin on the internet to investors in the US and overseas, claiming the investments would yield a 1,354% profit in fewer than 29 days.

The SEC also charged Lacroix’s partner, Sabrina Paradis-Royer, in connection with the scheme. PlexCorps did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment, the online publication continues. The SEC’s complaint charges Lacroix, Paradis-Royer and PlexCorps with violating anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities law, and Lacroix and PlexCorps with violating registration provisions, the SEC said.

The charges are the first filed by the SEC’s new cyber unit, created in September 2017 to focus on misconduct involving distributed ledger technology, ICOs, the spread of false information through electronic and social media and hacking.

The explosive growth of ICOs, a capital-raising tool that uses Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to fund projects that leverage technologies such as blockchain, has sparked concern among regulators who say such schemes lack transparency.