American actor Steven Seagal will have to pay $ 314,000 after reaching an agreement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). to resolve a demand for promoting an offer of bitcoins without communicating it to regulators and hiding the payments it had received.
The SEC order states that the actor, known for action movies, violated federal regulations on the sale of securities by not disclosing the offer he received from $ 250,000 in cash and another 750,000 in digital currency to promote an ‘initial offer of cryptocurrencies’ (ICO), by Bitcoiin2Gen.
The 67-year-old actor’s promotion included ads and publications in his social media accounts that encouraged the public to ‘not miss’ the Bitcoiin2Gen ICO and the publication of a press release entitled ‘Zen master Steven Seagal has become the brand ambassador for Bitcoiin2Gen’.
Without admitting or denying the findings of the SEC investigation, Seagal agreed to return $ 157,000, which was the actual amount received from that company, plus interest, and pay a fine of another $ 157,000, apart from agreeing not to promote for three years. Values of any kind, whether digital or not.
A SEC report determined in 2017 that currencies sold in ICO can be considered securities, so that their advertising falls under another category of restrictions and forces celebrities or any other person who promotes a virtual currency to reveal the nature and amount of the compensation received.
“Investors had the right to know the payments Seagal received or those promised in exchange for supporting this investment in order to decide if (the promotion) was interested,” the head of the Cyber Unit of the Division of SEC compliance, Kristina Littman.
“Celebrities cannot use their influence on social networks to promote values without adequately disclosing their compensation,” he insisted.
Steven Segal has become a controversial figure after having been mentioned in alleged cases of sexual harassment in the world of cinema, the great admiration professed by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, whose nationality he has acquired, and his participation in groups of volunteers armed who monitor the border with Mexico to combat illegal immigration. EFE
– .
