SEC charges Green United, a seller of mining hardware, with $18 million fraud

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Green United, a manufacturer of cryptocurrency mining equipment, with violations of federal law and fraud amounting to $18 million. The regulator has already filed the corresponding иск.

According to the complaint, the company’s founder Rait Terston and chief promoter Christopher Cron sold Antminer S9 devices marketed as “Green Boxes” — specialized equipment for mining “eco-friendly” GREEN tokens, which were, in fact, counterfeits.

The defendants promised investors monthly returns of 40-50%. It was expected that the miners would be installed at Green United’s data centre themselves.

According to the SEC, Terston created fake tokens on the Ethereum blockchain and distributed them across investors’ wallets over several months after he and Cron began operations in April 2018.

The asset itself never appreciated in value, and the coins could not be sold until autumn 2020. The token’s current price stands at $0.004, versus the $0.02 promised to investors.

The regulator contends that the scheme’s organisers misled users into using the purchased miners to mine bitcoins. Investors themselves did not receive any income. 

The authorities intend to secure court-imposed restrictions on Green United, and to compel the alleged scammers to pay fines and damages. 

As reported in November 2022, the SEC brought charges against four organizers of the crypto pyramid Trade Coin Club. They are suspected of fraud totaling $295 million.