SEC Enforcement Actions

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Date Filed: 01/04/2023 

Action: SEC vs. Neil Chandran et al.

Causes of Action: 

1. Violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 
2. Violations of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
3. Violations of Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
4. Violations of Section 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 
5. Aiding and Abetting (Counts 5-7)

Case Notes: On January 4, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Neil Chandran, Garry Davidson, Michael Glaspie, Amy Mossel, Linda Knott, AEO Publishing Inc., Banner Co-Op, Inc., and BannersGo, LLC for their involvement in CoinDeal whereby they raised more than $45 million from sales of unregistered securities to tens of thousands of investors worldwide.

Date Filed: 12/21/2022 

Action: SEC vs. Thor Technologies, Inc. et al.

Cause of Action: 

1. Violations of Sections 5(a) and (5)(c) of the Securities Act

Case Notes:  The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Thor Technologies, Inc., David Chin, Thor's co-founder and CEO, and Matthew Moravec, Thor's co-founder and former CTO, with conducting an unregistered offering of securities through an initial coin offering.

Date Filed: 12/14/2022

Action: SEC vs. Da Silva, et al.

Causes of Action: 

1. Violations of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
2. Violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 
3. Violations of Section 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 

Case Notes: On December 14, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Francisley Valdevino Da Silva, Juan Antonio Tacuri Fajardo, Ramon Antonio Perez Arias, and Jose Ramiro Coronado Reyes for their roles in creating and promoting Forcount Trader Systems, Inc., a crypto asset venture that raised more than $8.4 million from hundreds of retail investors primarily from Spanish-speaking communities throughout the United States and other countries.

Date Filed: 04/27/2022

Action: SEC vs. Block Bits and David Mata

Causes of Action: 

1. Violations of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
2. Violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 
3. Violations of Section 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 
4. Violations of Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Advisers Act
5. Violations of Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act and Rule 206(4)-8

Case Notes: On April 27, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Block Bits Capital, LLC, Block Bits Capital GP I, LLC and their co-founders Japheth Dillman and David Mata, with conducting a fraudulent unregistered securities offering.

Date Filed: 03/08/2022

Action: SEC vs. John Barksdale et al.

Causes of Action: 

1. Violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 
2. Violations of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
3. Violations of Section 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 

Case Notes: The Securities and Exchange Commission  charged siblings John and JonAtina (Tina) Barksdale with defrauding thousands of retail investors out of more than $124 million through two unregistered fraudulent offerings of securities involving a digital token called "Ormeus Coin."

Date Filed: 01/18/2022

Action: SEC vs. Paul Garcia

Causes of Action: 

1. Violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 
2. Violations of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
3. Section 6501 of the National Defense Authorization Act

Case Notes: The Securities and Exchange Commission  charged Paul A. Garcia for allegedly defrauding investors by stealing approximately one quarter of investor funds raised for Gold Hawgs Development Corp. ("Gold Hawgs"), a failed cryptocurrency venture.