SEC Charges Fantasy Market Founder With Orchestrating a Fraudulent ICO

Published at: Sept. 24, 2019

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Jonathan C. Lucas, the founder of adult entertainment marketplace Fantasy Market, with orchestrating a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO).

According to the SEC complaint published on Sept. 23, Lucas received around $63,000 in cryptocurrency from more than 100 investors “through the fraudulent offer and sale of unregistered digital securities of Fantasy Market.” The document states:

“As alleged in the complaint, Lucas made numerous materially false statements in a whitepaper and online to induce investors to participate in the ICO. Among other alleged misstatements, Lucas claimed that a "working-beta" version of the company's adult-entertainment platform existed when one did not, presented a fictitious management team, and misrepresented his own experience. After garnering media attention over investor complaints, the complaint states, Lucas returned the funds raised to investors.”

A civil penalty of $15,000

The SEC’s lawsuit was filed in the Manhattan federal district court. It is stated that Lucas has violated several securities laws related to countering fraud. It is also noted that Lucas has consented, without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, and was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $15,000.

As Cointelegraph reported recently, Canadian social media company Kik decided to downsize and shut down its messenger due to the firm’s need to manage resources in a legal battle with the SEC.

Tags
Blockchain
Sec
Court
Ico
Fraud
Related Posts
Abramoff-linked crypto firm says SEC has no case against it
The NAC Foundation has accused the United States Securities and Exchange Commission of misconduct in an ongoing case. According to court documents Oct. 20, Rowland Marcus Andrade and his company NAC Foundation asked a San Francisco federal judge to dismiss the SEC’s June lawsuit alleging that he and his associate Jack Abramoff defrauded investors in a $5.6 million token offering. Andrade argued that the SEC “purposefully attempted to mislead the court” by accusing him of offering a technology that had never been developed. According to the defendant, the SEC was aware that he held patents for Anti-Money Laundering technology related …
Regulation / Oct. 21, 2020
The new digital, decentralized economy needs academic validation
It is a pivotal moment in the development of the new digital economy. Interest in all things crypto keeps growing exponentially, and investment follows closely. There has arguably never been so much money poured into a product class that was so poorly understood, both by the wider public and by most investors. In lieu of actual understanding, stakeholders in the crypto space have to operate on reputation and trust instead. This necessity has given rise to a dangerous new con. Unlike blatant scams like OneCoin or Bitconnect, today’s blockchain opportunists and confidence tricksters often play the faux science card. “Read …
Decentralization / May 1, 2021
BNY Mellon and Credit Suisse Involved in Telegram’s $1.7B Sale: Report
Two global financial giants, BNY Mellon and Credit Suisse, were reportedly involved in Telegram’s $1.7 billion Gram (GRAM) token sale in 2018. Telegram allegedly informed its investors that it was using BNY Mellon and Credit Suisse to move and store fiat currency raised in the GRAM sale, industry publication Coindesk reports, citing court filings released on Dec. 10. A Telegram employee reveals the details in a series of messages attached to the filings Shyam Parekh, a Telegram employee who is expected to give a deposition before the New York Southern District Court today, Dec. 10, reportedly provided details on how …
Blockchain / Dec. 10, 2019
The Making of the First US ICO Fraud Case
In common law systems, it is precedent that informs judicial approaches to new and previously unaddressed matters. The precedent that will likely shape the body of U.S. case law on fraudulent initial coin offerings (ICOs) is currently being forged in a federal court in the New York borough of Brooklyn, where a 39-year old entrepreneur, Maksim Zaslavskiy, has pleaded guilty to committing securities fraud. The development that will most likely result in a landmark decision – the jury will gather in April 2019 to decide on a sentence – is yet another twist of a now 14 month-long effort, involving …
Blockchain / Nov. 24, 2018
US: SEC Obtains Emergency Court Order to Freeze Assets of Fraudulent ICO
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received an additional emergency court order to freeze the assets of Dominic Lacroix, owner of PlexCorps, in an ongoing enforcement action, Crowdfund Insider reported June 20. The SEC had previously sued Lacroix for securities fraud and received an emergency asset freeze order in December, 2017. The order was unsealed June 18. The SEC alleges that, since December, Lacroix has been using secret accounts, including an account in his brother’s name which he controlled, to dissipate assets obtained from investors with the PlexCoin ICO. The SEC is looking to collect interest, penalties, as …
Sec / June 21, 2018