Another day, another crypto-fraud. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today announced that it has obtained an emergency court order halting a planned Initial Coin Offering (ICO). The promoters of this ICO falsely claimed that it was approved by the agency. The order also halts ongoing pre-ICO sales by the company, Blockvest LLC and its founder, Reginald Buddy RINGGOLD, III.
SEC alleges that Blockvest falsely claimed its ICO and its affiliates received regulatory approval from various agencies, including the SEC. According to the SEC’s complaint, Blockvest and Ringgold, who also goes by the name Rasool Abdul Rahim El, were using the SEC seal without permission, a violation of federal law, and falsely claiming their crypto fund was “licensed and regulated.” The complaint also alleges Ringgold promoted the ICO with a fake agency called the “Blockchain Exchange Commission“. This fake agency was is using a graphic similar to the SEC’s seal and the same address as SEC headquarters.
Blockvest and Ringgold also allegedly misrepresented their connections to a well-known accounting firm and continued their fraudulent conduct even after the National Futures Association (NFA) sent them a cease-and-desist letter to stop them from using the NFA’s seal and from making false claims about their status with that organization.
Reginald “Buddy” Ringgold aka Rasool Abdul Rahim El issued the following statement on his linkedin profile, claiming his innocence and amazement about the SEC’s actions:
“I am stunned by the SEC’s Compliant and deny the allegations it contains against me, as their complaint contains “serious factual inaccuracies” It is particularly disturbing that the SEC departed from its own longstanding practice of providing advance notice and a meaningful opportunity to address their questions in advance of filing an action.
Nothing is more important to me than my integrity and I am deeply proud of the role I have played at BlockVest in developing an Innovative Technology that will improve many lives. Our Focus has been on delivering a revolutionary platform not on an ICO. So there was no ICO to stop as we have been in Private Sale Phase and put off the ICO due to the unclear regulatory landscape. I intend to fight the allegations that have been brought against me and will fight to clear my name. When you are a threat you will always remain a target.”
Blockvests business idea is stated by Ringgold as:
“Blockvest (BLV) is an ERC20 token based upon the Ethereum blockchain. Operating on the blockchain allows for global accessibility, 24/7 trading, transparency, public verification of Blockvest’s holdings and no expensive legacy banking fees. Blockvest Nvestnodes generate passive income through asset-backed profit sharing smart contracts. At its core, BLV is a utility token that’s representative of the top performing cryptocurrency index.”
This paragraph alone contains enough unproven buzz-words for a complete white paper. Despite having been forced to halt the ICO, Ringgold plans to publish his platform in Q4 of 2018, according to the project’s website.
In a final statement of his defense in Blockvest’s Telegram group, Ringgold concludes: “We are in full cooperation and have nothing to hide… The whole Crypto Digital Asset Space is under attack.”
Read more on the SEC website.
