Top Unicoin Executives Accused of Defrauding Investors in SEC Complaint

Top Unicoin Executives Accused of Defrauding Investors in SEC Complaint

In simpler terms, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused New York’s cryptocurrency exchange, Unicoin, along with some of its high-ranking officials, of deceiving investors by making misleading statements regarding the selling of rights certificates and company shares.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleges that Unicoin deceptively stated they gathered over $3 billion via their rights certificate sales. However, according to the SEC, the actual amount raised from investors was only around $110 million.

Deceptive Crypto Investment Campaign

A lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York alleges that the SEC implicated CEO and Chairman Alex Konanykhin, ex-president and board chairwoman Silvina Moschini, former Chief Investment Officer Alex Dominguez, and general counsel Richard Devlin for orchestrating or aiding misleading promotional activities. These activities led approximately 5,000 people to purchase rights certificates, which were falsely advertised as providing access to “asset-backed” Unicoin tokens.

Marketing materials, extensively distributed via prestigious advertisements at airports, taxis, TV, and social networks, presented these investment certificates as safe and profitable opportunities tied to cryptocurrencies, supposedly supported by billions of dollars worth of property and stock ownership in private corporations.

As an analyst, I find myself in disagreement with Unicoin’s assertions about their holdings. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) contends that the actual assets held by Unicoin are significantly less than the quantities they claim to have.

In an official statement, Mark Cave, Associate Director in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said,

It is claimed that Unicoin and its management misled thousands of investors with false assurances about their tokens. These tokens were said to be supported by tangible real-world assets such as a global collection of high-value real estate properties.

False Claims of Regulatory Compliance

As a crypto investor, I found myself deceived when I learned that the representatives of Unicoin allegedly made false claims about their offerings being SEC-registered or in compliance with U.S. regulations – a fact that turned out to be untrue.

The regulatory body claims that Konanykhin personally sold approximately 38 million shares, some of which were given to investors initially barred by Unicoin for the purpose of maintaining an exemption from registration. This act is said to have contravened laws pertaining to unregistered offerings. All four parties are accused of antifraud activities, with Unicoin and Konanykhin also facing charges concerning illegal sales of unregistered securities.

In summary, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is aiming to impose permanent bans, fines, and recovery of wrongfully obtained profits, and also prevent three executives from holding positions in public companies. Furthermore, Devlin, who served as the company’s general counsel, has decided to settle the accusations without either admitting or denying them. His settlement terms involve a permanent injunction and a fine of $37,500 for negligently making misleading statements in private placement documents.

In a Miami Herald opinion piece published on April 3, Konanykhin stated that the SEC notified Unicoin in December about potential fraud accusations. Nevertheless, he firmly denied these allegations.

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2025-05-25 21:29