SafeMoon fraud charges by SEC and Unregistered Crypto Offering

Key Points:

• SafeMoon fraud charges have been filed by SEC and its executives for fraud related to the unregistered sale of the SafeMoon cryptocurrency.
• SafeMoon fraud charges allege that the company promised to increase the token’s price but instead caused a market capitalization drop, withdrew over $200 million in crypto assets, and misused investor funds.
• The SEC warns investors to be cautious of unregistered offerings like SafeMoon, as they lack necessary disclosures and accountability, making them attractive to scammers.

The charges stem from their involvement in an extensive fraudulent scheme related to the unregistered sale of the cryptocurrency security known as SafeMoon.

SafeMoon Fraud Charges by SEC for $200M Crypto Scam

SafeMoon fraud charges have been filed by the SEC against SafeMoon LLC, its creator Kyle Nagy, and its executives John Karony and Thomas Smith for the unregistered sale of the SafeMoon cryptocurrency. The SEC alleges that they promised to increase the token’s price but instead caused a market capitalization drop, withdrew over $200 million in crypto assets, and misused investor funds.

David Hirsch of the SEC emphasized that unregistered offerings like SafeMoon lack necessary disclosures and accountability, making them attractive to scammers. The SEC’s complaint alleges that Nagy assured investors that funds in SafeMoon’s liquidity pool were secure and inaccessible, but significant portions were never locked and were misused for personal expenses.

SEC Warns Investors of Crypto Scams as SafeMoon Executives Face Manipulation Charges

The SEC warns investors to be cautious as fraudsters often fail to deliver on promised profits. SafeMoon experienced a rapid price increase of over 55,000 percent in 2021, but the price fell by nearly 50 percent when it was revealed that the liquidity pool was not secure. Following this, Karony and Smith allegedly manipulated the market using misappropriated assets.

The complaint, filed in the Eastern District of New York, charges the defendants with violating securities laws. The SEC’s investigation was led by John Lucas and supervised by Deborah A. Tarasevich, Jorge G. Tenreiro, and David Hirsch. The SEC acknowledges the support of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the FBI.

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