The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged the three organizers of the investment scheme Bitcoiin2Gen with securities fraud.
According to the regulator, B2G caught the interest of investors by promising them high returns on investments in its own cryptocurrency Bitcoiin, which was distributed through an unregistered initial coin offering (ICO). The organizers sent investors booklets with fake information, in which they claimed B2G would be available for mining and issuance in April 2018, however, the company's activities had already stopped by then. As a result, the scammers - founder Kristijan Krstic, as well as promoters John DeMarr and Robin Enos, managed to raise around $11M.
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Krstic and DeMarr have been charged with violating registration and antifraud requirements in connection with the distribution of securities, while Enos is accused of aiding their activities.
Last year, the SEC settled claims against actor Steven Seagal, who promoted B2G as a brand ambassador and failed to report he had received $157,000 in B2G tokens for his participation in promoting the project. Later, the SEC reported it considers Bitcoiin a security and that it was continuing to investigate it. The name of the popular actor is not mentioned in the latest lawsuit.