Opporty International has raised $600,000 from nearly 200 investors in an illegal ICO. The blockchain company sold OPP Tokens, which are unregistered digital asset securities, according to the US SEC.
Following the illegal ICO, The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged blockchain company Opporty International, and its founder Sergii Grybniak for conducting an illegal initial coin offering of unregistered digital assets.
The regulator’s complaint alleged that Grybniak and Opporty International raised approximately $600,000 from nearly 200 investors in an ICO of Opporty’s unregistered digital asset securities called “OPP Tokens.” Grybniak and Opporty also allegedly made numerous false and misleading statements to investors, including exaggerating the number of actual and potential users of its business platform and falsely claiming that the ICO was “SEC regulated,” “SEC compliant,” and “SEC registered.”
Further complaints of the SEC against Opporty international were misappropriating third-party content without approval or attribution, to create the false impression that actual users of Opporty’s platform had created such content.
Roped in the allegation too is Clever Solution Inc., another entity controlled by Grybniak, as a relief defendant.
Charges against Opporty international
Following this many allegations, SEC has charged Opporty with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, alongside the registration provisions of Sections 5(a) and (c) of the Securities Act.
Grybniak, Opporty’s founder was also charged for aiding and abetting the firm’s violations.
The regulators sought permanent injunctions, conduct-based injunctions prohibiting the offering of digital or other securities, disgorgement plus interest, and civil penalties against Grybniak and Opporty, as well as an officer-and-director bar against Grybniak.
The regulator further named Clever Solution Inc., another entity controlled by Grybniak, as a relief defendant.
The regulator further named Clever Solution Inc., another entity controlled by Grybniak, as a relief defendant.
SEC continues hunt for illegal ICO’s
The U.S Security and exchange commission has continued with its job to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. The body has also been regulating the security market by identifying illegal and unregistered ICO marketers.
one of the most recent battles SEC is fighting in court is against Telegram. Telegram’s legal struggle with SEC has become one of the hottest topics in the crypto industry today.
SEC and Telegram currently tussle a case of Telegram not registering the sale of Gram tokens as security with the agency and gaining funding of 1.7 billion dollars through a sales round conducted in February 2018.
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