US regulators have filed a lawsuit against Unicoin, a cryptocurrency investment firm, along with three of its senior figures.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claims the group misled over 5,000 investors by collecting more than $100 million through questionable sales of so-called “rights certificates”.
Filed on May 20 in a Manhattan federal court, the SEC’s complaint names Unicoin CEO Alex Konanykhin, board member Silvina Moschini, and former investment chief Alex Dominguez.
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According to the SEC, the three promoted certificates promised future access to Unicoin tokens and shares in the company. They allegedly claimed these would be backed by valuable real estate and other assets.
Unicoin’s general counsel, Richard Devlin, was also accused of violating securities laws. He agreed to pay a $37,500 penalty to resolve the matter without admitting or denying the allegations.
Mark Cave from the SEC’s enforcement division said that, starting in 2022, the company made false claims about these tokens being supported by a global portfolio of high-value property.
The SEC also said Unicoin misrepresented its financial health by giving the impression that the company could operate for decades without needing more funds. In contrast, internal information showed that Unicoin sometimes had enough funds for less than four months.
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