Key Insights
- SEC obtains judgments against two promoters of the alleged CoinDeal investment scheme
- New Jersey and Illinois women ordered to repay over $600K for soliciting hundreds of investors
- Promoters accused of spreading false claims, misappropriating funds in purported crypto deal
NEW JERSEY (MarketsXplora) – A U.S. judge has ordered two women accused of soliciting hundreds of investors for a bogus blockchain project to repay over $600,000 and fined them for their alleged involvement in what regulators call a fraudulent scheme.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged New Jersey resident Arline Woodbury and Joyce Holverson of Illinois in 2021 over their activity tied to a purported cryptocurrency investment program called CoinDeal.
The regulator alleged the pair acted as “downstream promoters” who spread false claims about CoinDeal through personal networks and social media, raising millions of dollars they partly diverted for cars, dining and travel.
Woodbury did not respond to the October 2021 lawsuit filed at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District Illinois alleging serious securities law breaches, according to a Wednesday order that permanently bans her from future violations.
Holverson settled parallel SEC charges without admitting or denying the regulator’s allegations and agreed to repay investors, according to a court order establishing an asset freeze.
The cases show the SEC targeting individuals it alleges helped propagate bogus crypto investment schemes in addition to lead organizers already sanctioned by the regulator and facing criminal charges.
No sale or distributions from CoinDeal ever occurred, the SEC said in its complaint that described both women as defrauding victims desperate for income amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Lawyers for Woodbury and Holverson did not immediately respond on Wednesday to attempts by Reuters to reach them for comment. The SEC also did not immediately reply to a request for further detail.