The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against three people accused of insider trading with the Long Blockchain Company in connection with the name change of the Long Island Iced Tea Company.

In an announcement made Friday, the SEC announced that Eric Watson, Oliver Barret-Lindsay and Gannon Giguiere were appearing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for their roles in commerce related to rebranding a beverage company to a blockchain company were charged. which leads to a significant increase in the company’s share price. Giguiere bought 35,000 shares of Long Blockchain after allegedly being notified of the change by Barret-Lindsay, who was first alerted by Watson.

The decision to switch the company from Long Island Iced Tea to Long Blockchain was made in early 2018. After the company was renamed to focus on blockchain development, the share price rose 289% – more than 380% according to the SEC during the day. Giguiere then sold its shares for more than $ 160,000.

The regulatory group said Barret-Lindsay and Giguiere had already pleaded criminally guilty of a stock tampering program but were seeking permanent injunctions and civil sanctions on the three people in the current case. In addition, she tries to prevent Watson from being an officer or director of a public company.

Connected: Former iced tea company converted to blockchain sells beverage subsidiary

Founded in 2011 in New York as a non-alcoholic beverage company, Long Island Iced Tea moved its operations to blockchain and later focused on crypto mining. The SEC official removed the company’s shares from the stock market in February after it meant the company failed to file financial reports.