What comes around goes around, or so they say, regardless of what you might personally think of the myriad old saying that has to do with karma, it is apparent that someone was playing with the wheel of Fortune. Why, well because someone’s luck has just run out, yes we are feeling pretty cheesy today. Anyway, the SEC has only doled out a new ruling on a recent case involving the unauthorized sales of equity of a privately owned Blockchain company, and the SEC hasn’t just charged one person. Oh no, the SEC has gone in to make an example and has, therefore, indicted two people as guilty.
The SEC Speaks Up
The SEC or Securities and Exchange Commision lodged a case against a lawyer and the account manager of a leading legal practice guilty of benefiting from a non-legal series of trades in company shares for a company which reportedly specializes in Blockchain technology. The details of the case state that T.J. Jesky a practicing lawyer at the firm which is currently run by Mark F. DeStefano reputedly managed to rake in a total of $1.4 million through selling the equity of UBI Blockchain Internet Ltd. The operation that the two had been running has been in existence since the 26th of December in 2017 but abruptly ended on the 5th of January this year.
The Chief Of SEC’s Cyber Security
The Chief of the SEC’s Enforcement Division Cyber Unit, Robert A. Cohen, has stated that the occurrence of this case was exactly what the SEC has been fearing. The premise of this case is the purpose behind the message that the SEC keeps trying to inform individual citizens: citizens should be very cautious of purchasing stocks in any firm that has Blockchain technology or classifies itself as a Blockchain startup. The reason for this added layer of precaution is that there is a possibility of people hanging onto fraudulently sold shares.
Apparently, Jesky and DeStefano both were transferred a total of 72 000 shares of UBI, with the express intention that they could be then resold the general populace at a trading price of $0.70 each. This was legal and by the registration document that UBI had signed with regards to the equity of the company and the SEC. However, what is not legal is that Jesky and DeStefano then went on to sell them at outrageously high prices and then go on to make unforeseen levels of profit, through the observation of the current demand in the market for Blockchain firms shares.
The Conclusion Of The Case
It seems that Jesky and DeStefano actually sold the shares for anywhere between $21 right through to just over $48; after a case was lodged with the New York Federal Court by the SEC against Jesky and DeStefano thanks to the SEC picking up on the very odd price surge in UBI. Jesky and DeStefano are now required to pay back all the profits accrued, pay just under $200 000 in penalties to the state and then submit to a series of permanent rehabilitation steps following the adjunction of the investigation.
