SEC brings three more charges in $30 million ICO fraud case

SEC has brought three new charges in the $30 million ICO fraud case against Boaz Manor and Edith Pardo, 18 months after the first charges.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has brought charges against three additional defendants in its ongoing case against ex-con Boaz Manor and his business associate Edith Pardo for raising $30 million in an allegedly fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO).

The case against the companies CG Blockchain and BCT Inc. and their owners Manor and Pardo allege the two for hiding Manor’s real identity using network aliases and physical сamouflages (such as growing a beard and dying the hair) to hide his criminal past. Manor, along with Pardo, raised about $30 million funds from investors to develop BCT’s product, a blockchain-based Bloomberg-like terminal, using fraudful statements.

This case is one in a line of cases against fraudulent ICOs brought by the SEC since 2017, following the ICO boom and crash.

According to the statement, the SEC has brought new charges against Michael Gietz, Ali Asif Hamid, and Cristine Page, alleging that these three served in leading positions in the ICO. The three have been charged with selling unregistered securities and helping Manor and Pardo conceal Manor’s criminal history and spoof investors, as the SEC stated.

April 2020, the Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey asked the SEC to pause its civil action against Manor and Pardo while it conducts its own criminal case against the two. The SEC did not reject this petition.

For now, only Page has accepted a settlement that includes disgorgement of the digital assets that she received in connection with the ICO, permanent injunctions, and a civil penalty of $192,768.

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/sec-charges-3-more-in-30m-ico-fraud-case