On January 4, 2023, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit in the District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against six people and two companies who were allegedly involved in the CoinDeal investment fraud.
The SEC alleges that CoinDeal raised more than $45 million from the sale of unregistered securities to thousands of investors, claiming that they could get returns of more than 500,000 times the initial investment, as well as access to valuable blockchain technology.
The SEC has further charged AEO Publishing Inc., Banner Co-Op, Inc., and BannersGo, LLC in relation to the case. It is alleged that the defendants misused the investors’ funds to purchase luxury items like cars, real estate, and a boat.
The SEC is attempting to recover the stolen funds, interest, penalties, and to obtain permanent injunctions against all of the defendants.
The defendants are accused of violating the anti-fraud and registration provisions of the Securities Act and Exchange Act.
One of the individuals charged in this case has already been facing a different investment fraud case brought by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
In June 2022, the DOJ charged and arrested this individual on three counts of wire fraud in connection with a scheme involving the false
