The SEC has accused Meta 1 Coin of conducting an illegal ICO and misappropriating investor funds.

   The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused the Meta 1 Coin cryptographic project of conducting a fraudulent ICO and misappropriating $4.3 million from more than 150 investors.

The SEC went to court, demanding an urgent freeze on the assets of two Florida residents, Robert Dunlap and Nicole Bowdler, as well as those of former Washington State Senator David Schmidt. According to the SEC, these people sold Meta 1 Coin digital assets, which are unregistered securities, in violation of federal antifraud laws.

In addition, the organizers of the project misled investors by providing them with false information that Meta 1 Coin tokens were provided with art objects worth $1 billion or $2 billion worth of gold. The reserves were allegedly checked by an auditing firm.

Investors were promised a high return of up to 224,923%, without any risks or losses. According to the SEC, the defendants used funds obtained through ICO to cover their personal expenses and purchase a $215,000 luxury Ferrari car. The scammers invested part of the money in two firms, Pramana Capital Inc. and Peter K. and Peter K. Shamoun. In total, the scammers have collected more than $4.3 from 150 investors in the U.S. and outside the country.

"We believe that the defendants provided false information about Meta 1 Coin, and could say anything to lure money out of people. Investors should be sceptical about such offers, where huge profits are promised and nothing can happen to the investment," said David Peavler, SEC Regional Director.

The regulator is demanding that the organizers of the Meta 1 Coin fraud scheme be subject to civil penalties, and that the entire amount of funds raised in the course of the ICO, together with interest, be recovered from them in the period before the court decision. As for Pramana and Shamoun, the SEC requires them to return the money invested by the Meta 1 Coin representatives because the funds were obtained through criminal activity.

This month, the SEC won a court case against the Russian ICOBox project in a case involving the unregistered sale of tokens, obliging the founder of the startup to pay $16 million in fines and compensation for illegally obtained funds. Last month, the agency fined actor Stephen Segal in promoting ICO's Bitcoiin2Gen cryptographic project and in hiding the fact of receiving payment.