SEC lands $700K victory in another ICO court case

Another ICO case comes to a close.

After years of legal action from United States governing bodies, Blockvest, a 2018 initial coin offering, or ICO, has received its final orders. 

“The SEC, as a government agency, seeks a permanent injunction, disgorgement of funds received from Defendants’ illegal conduct, and civil penalties,” said a court document filed on Thursday. The court case takes aim at both Blockvest, and its founder, Reginald Buddy Ringgold III, also known as Rasool Abdul Rahim El.

The Securities and Exchange Commission put the brakes on Blockvest in October 2018. The following two years saw a number of legal dealings and developments. Today’s news brings the saga to a close.

The SEC’s rationale for permanent injunction claims Blockvest and Ringgold knew their actions were wrong, but proceeded with the ICO anyway, covering up what they could during legal proceedings. Ringgold had not registered the token sale with the SEC but claimed otherwise: 

“Defendants misrepresented that the initial coin offering was ‘registered’ with and ‘approved’ by the SEC and used SEC’s logo,” the document detailed.

The defendants also falsely claimed connections to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, and the National Futures Association, or NFA.

Additionally, the document lists other offenses, such as inventing:

“A fictitious regulatory agency, the Blockchain Exchange Commission (‘BEC’), creating its own fake government seal, logo, and mission statement that are nearly identical to the SEC’s seal, logo, mission statement as well as using the same address as the SEC’s headquarters.”

Blockvest and Ringgold must pay multiple sums of compensation, including refunding the capital that participants put toward in the offering. Disgorgement payments, interest and civil penalties come out to a cost of $696,097.90, as per the document. The defendants must also abide by a number of restraints and conditions.