The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently charged New York City-based Unicoin, Inc., and four of its top executives – CEO and Board Chairman Alex Konanykhin, his ex-wife, Silvina Moschini (former President, former Board Chairwoman, and current Board Member), former Chief Investment Officer, Alex Dominguez, and General Counsel Richard Devlin. The SEC’s charges are predicated upon the issuance by Defendants of allegedly false and misleading statements made in an offering of certificates that purportedly conveyed rights to receive crypto assets (called Unicoin tokens), and an offering of Unicoin, Inc.’s common stock.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges Unicoin, Konanykhin, Moschini, and Dominguez with violations of the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5(b) thereunder.
Konanykhin and Unicoin are also charged with violating the registration provisions of Section 5(a) and (c) of the Securities Act, and Konanykhin as a control person for certain of Unicoin’s antifraud violations, pursuant to Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act. Additionally, the complaint charges Devlin with violating Section 17(a)(2) and (3) of the Securities Act by negligently making misstatements in private placement memoranda Unicoin used to offer and sell rights certificates and Unicoin common stock.
The SEC’s enforcement complaint alleges that Unicoin broadly marketed rights certificates to the public through extensive promotional efforts, including advertisements in major airports, on thousands of New York City taxis and buses, and on television and social media. Among other things, Unicoin and its executives, through meetings at national securities exchanges located in this District, are alleged to have convinced more than 5,000 investors to purchase rights certificates through false and misleading statements that portrayed them as investments in safe, stable, and profitable “next generation” crypto assets, including claims that:
- Unicoin tokens underlying the rights certificates were “asset-backed” by billions of dollars of real estate and equity interests in pre-IPO companies, when – in fact — Unicoin’s assets were never worth more than a small fraction of that amount;
- the company had sold more than $3 billion in rights certificates, when it raised no more than $110 million; and
- the rights certificates and Unicoin tokens were “SEC-registered” or “U.S. registered,” when they were not.
The SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties against Unicoin, Konanykhin, Moschini, and Dominguez, as well as officer-and-director bars against Konanykhin, Moschini, and Dominguez. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, Devlin has consented to the entry of a final judgment providing permanent injunctive relief and ordering him to pay a $37,500 civil penalty.
Contact Securities Fraud Defense Lawyer David Chase
SEC investigation attorney David Chase, of the Law Firm of David R. Chase, has successfully represented individuals in FINRA and SEC inquires nationally for more than 25 years, after having served as Senior Counsel in the SEC’s Enforcement Division in Miami, Florida. If you are under SEC or FINRA investigation, or just received an SEC subpoena or FINRA 8210, and are looking for knowledgeable and seasoned legal counsel, contact David at: 800-760-0912 or e-mail him at: david@davidchaselaw.com. Visit the Firm’s website for valuable content, to read about David’s SEC and FINRA defense background, and to review the firm’s prior successful defense results at: www.securitiesfrauddefense.net.
