Catenaa, Sunday, May 25, 2025-The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday filed charges against crypto company Unicoin and four of its executives, alleging they defrauded investors in a $100 million scheme tied to fake token and stock rights offerings.
The SEC accused Unicoin of misleading thousands of investors by claiming its Unicoin tokens and associated rights certificates were backed by billions of dollars in real-world assets, including real estate and stakes in pre-IPO companies. In reality, the regulator said the underlying assets were worth only a fraction of what was advertised.
Despite Unicoin’s public claims that it had sold more than $3 billion in certificates, the SEC stated the firm raised no more than $110 million. The company also allegedly misrepresented that the securities were registered with the commission, which they were not.
Executives charged include CEO Alex Konanykhin, former president Silvina Moschini, former investment chief Alex Dominguez and general counsel Richard Devlin. The SEC alleges all four violated antifraud provisions of federal securities laws. Devlin has agreed to a $37,500 civil penalty and a permanent injunction, without admitting wrongdoing.
The fraud was widely promoted through advertising campaigns at airports, on taxis, and across TV and social media platforms. The SEC said more than 5,000 investors were lured into purchasing the rights certificates under false pretenses.
The complaint was filed in US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Unicoin has not yet publicly responded to the charges.
