BlockBeats News, May 21: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday filed a lawsuit against New York City-based Unicoin and its three executives — CEO and Chairman of the Board Alex Konanykhin, former President and Chairman of the Board and current Director Silvina Moschini, and former Chief Investment Officer Alex Dominguez — alleging that they made false and misleading statements in connection with the sale of "equity certificates" and common stock of Unicoin. The "equity certificates" purportedly granted investors the right to receive a future cryptocurrency asset named Unicoin.

The SEC alleges that Unicoin promoted the equity certificates to the public through a large-scale marketing campaign, including advertisements in major airports, thousands of taxis in New York City, TV, and social media. Unicoin and its executives are accused of making false and misleading statements that led to over 5,000 investors purchasing these equity certificates. Unicoin and Konanykhin also violated securities laws by selling equity certificates to the public without registration.

The complaint alleges that Konanykhin unlawfully sold over 37.9 million of his personally held equity certificates to offer a more favorable price and attract investors who were originally barred from participating in the investment, thus circumventing registration exemptions. In the lawsuit filed by the SEC in the Southern District of New York federal court, Unicoin, Konanykhin, Moschini, and Dominguez are accused of violating anti-fraud provisions of federal securities laws. Unicoin and Konanykhin are charged with violating registration provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, and Konanykhin is held responsible for "control person" liability for part of Unicoin's fraudulent conduct.

The SEC seeks permanent injunctions against all defendants, requiring them to disgorge ill-gotten gains and pay prejudgment interest and civil penalties, while also prohibiting Konanykhin, Moschini, and Dominguez from serving as executives or directors of any public company.