SEC wins $13 million court ruling against BitConnect promoters

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) сообщила about court decisions against two representatives of the crypto-lending platform BitConnect, which it regards as a $2 billion unregistered securities offering scheme.

In May 2021, the regulator charged four alleged BitConnect promoters: Trevor Brown, Craig Grant, Ryan Maasen, and Michael Noble, as well as Joshua Jeppesen.

The decisions of the Southern District of New York concern Noble and Jeppesen, as well as the latter’s fiancée Laura Makol. She is not charged with wrongdoing, but must return the funds received from her fiancé.

The Commission alleges that Noble was one of the promoters of the crypto project and offered and sold unregistered securities without registration as a broker-dealer.

Jeppesen, according to the SEC, acted as the link between the promoters and BitConnect and also represented the project at conferences and promotional events.

The court ordered Jeppesen to pay $3.04 million in restitution and interest, a civil penalty of $150,000, and to return 190 BTC (about $9.3 million at the time of writing). Makol will be reimbursed $576,358.

The total amount paid under the rulings is about $13 million.

The amount of restitution for Noble and the size of his civil penalty will be determined later.

Earlier, the SEC said that reached a settlement with the defendants.

Earlier, authorities in Australia also charged a man believed to be a BitConnect promoter.