A federal judge for the Southern District of California has ruled in a recent court filing that blockchain-based assets exchange Blockvest and its founder should lose their defense in a Securities and Exchange Commission case after allegations of fraud and misconduct. California Judge Michael S. Berg has recommended granting plaintiff SEC’s “Motion for Terminating Sanctions” against blockchain-based asset exchange Blockvest.
“Even broad sanctions would not adequately redress Defendants’ egregious misconduct and deceit.”
Court documents released on April 20 state, “The Court has considered alternative monetary, evidentiary, and issue preclusion sanctions, and concludes that, under the facts of this case, even broad sanctions would not adequately redress Defendants’ egregious misconduct and deceit.” Blockvest and its founder Reginald Buddy Ringgold III’s egregious misconduct and willful deception concerning critical issues in this litigation justify the imposition, the judge said. However, the judge admitted that sanctions were a “harsh remedy” for the exchange’s actions.
Blockvest ran a $2.5 million pre-initial coin offering.
Blockvest ran a $2.5 million pre-initial coin offering before being restricted by the Security Exchange Commission in October 2018. The court had initially said the exchange had not violated securities laws by selling unregistered securities in the form of digital assets” with its native tokens, the commission later gained an injunction against the blockchain-based exchange. As the case has developed, Blockvest and its founder Reginald Buddy Ringgold, III, have been accused by the SEC of forging signatures and encouraging false declarations for crucial evidence in the lawsuit.
The April 20 filing is part of the court’s response to the SEC motioning for a default judgment on terminating sanctions. Initially, the court has dismissed claims from the regulator Securities and Exchange Commission against decentralized blockchain-based assets exchange Blockvest in November 27 ruling. US SEC has filed lawsuits against several blockchain companies that conducted Initial Coin Offerings without registering with them in early crypto years. The court ruled in favor of SEC in many cases, and companies had to pay huge fines to the commission for conducting ICOs.
