Eight celebrities charged with illegally promoting tokens in a case involving Chinese crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun.
Actress Lindsay Lohan, YouTube influencer Jake Paul, and several other celebrities have been accused of illegally promoting cryptocurrency for a Chinese businessman accused of fraud.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Wednesday that it had accused Justin Sun of artificially inflating the trading volume of Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) and concealing payments made to celebrities to promote the tokens. .
In its lawsuit filed in court, the SEC said Sun, which owns the Tron Foundation, BitTorrent Foundation and Rainberry companies, ordered employees to make hundreds of thousands of simultaneous or near-simultaneous purchases and sales of TRX and BTT without a change. actual on the property. .
The SEC said Sun’s efforts to create the appearance of legitimate trading facilitated the sale of TRX while keeping prices stable, generating tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits at the expense of investors.
“This case again demonstrates the high risk investors face when crypto assets are offered and sold without proper disclosure,” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said in a statement.
Sun did not immediately respond to a Twitter request for comment.
Lohan, Paul, rapper Akon, recording artists Ne-Yo and Lil Yachty, and adult actress Michele Mason are alleged to have pushed cryptocurrency investments to their millions of online followers without disclosing that they had been paid.
The six agreed to pay more than $400,000 in repayment, interest and penalties to settle the claims, the SEC said.
Two other celebrities named in the SEC complaint, rapper Soulja Boy and pop singer Austin Mahone, did not reach an agreement with the SEC, the agency said.
The SEC issues civil penalties such as fines and does not file criminal charges.
US regulators have stepped up oversight of cryptocurrencies following the shocking collapse of FTX and the arrest of its founder. Sam Bankman-fried on fraud charges last year.
