By BY DAVID YAFFE-BELLANY from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/gfy5Ftx
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges on Wednesday against a prominent cryptocurrency entrepreneur and a group of celebrities who promoted his ventures, including the actress Lindsay Lohan.
The S.E.C. filed a complaint in federal court in the Southern District of New York charging the entrepreneur, Justin Sun, with securities law violations linked to his management of three crypto companies. The agency also charged eight celebrities, including Ms. Lohan and the social media influencer Jake Paul, with illegally promoting Mr. Sun’s cryptocurrencies.
Ms. Lohan, Mr. Paul and four of the other celebrities agreed to pay a total of $400,000 to settle the charges.
The S.E.C. charges are the latest in a series of federal enforcement efforts targeting the crypto industry, which has faced mounting scrutiny in the nearly five months since the implosion of FTX, the exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried.