SEC Charges Unicoin, Top Executives With $100M ‘Massive Securities Fraud’
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Unicoin and three of its executives—CEO Alexander Konanykhin, former board chair Maria Moschini, and former chief investment officer Alejandro Dominguez—along with senior vice president and general counsel Richard Devlin, alleging securities fraud. The SEC claims Unicoin fraudulently raised over $100 million by selling tokens purportedly backed by real estate assets.
The complaint details how Unicoin misrepresented its holdings and inflated the value of its real estate acquisitions. For instance, the company announced acquisitions totaling over $1.4 billion in Argentina, Thailand, Antigua, and the Bahamas between September 2023 and January 2024. However, the SEC alleges that most of these transactions never closed, and the actual combined value was significantly lower, no more than $300 million.
Furthermore, the SEC accuses Unicoin of exaggerating its sales figures. While the company claimed $3 billion in sales by June 2024, the SEC asserts that actual sales of its rights certificates never exceeded $110 million. These misrepresentations were allegedly disseminated through various channels, including social media, taxi cabs, ferries, office building elevator screens, digital billboards, coasters, television programs, news websites, and public wi-fi kiosks. Marketing materials promised exorbitant returns, reaching up to 9 million percent, drawing parallels to Bitcoin’s past growth to entice investors.
Unicoin received a Wells notice from the SEC last December, foreshadowing the impending lawsuit. Konanykhin publicly stated that the company rejected the SEC’s settlement offer, citing unacceptable demands and claiming the SEC’s investigation caused “multi-billion-dollar damages.” Despite previous statements asserting full regulatory compliance, Unicoin and Konanykhin have not responded to requests for comment on the current SEC action.
The SEC is seeking disgorgement and civil penalties. This case highlights the SEC’s ongoing efforts to regulate the cryptocurrency market and prosecute those engaging in fraudulent activities. The allegations of misrepresentation and inflated asset values underscore the importance of due diligence for investors in the cryptocurrency space.
