SEC charges operator of ICO and cloud crypto mining schemes

On December 2, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against Ivars Auzins over a series of digital asset-related investment schemes that the SEC is calling fraudulent.

The SEC highlighted a 2018 initial coin offering for a token called Denaro, for which Auzins’ allegedly gathered $11 million worth of investments before the project disappeared.

Another scheme, Innovamine, allegedly promised investors the opportunity to mine crypto using cloud computing. Auzins was accused of collecting over $7 million for Innovamine before disappearing with investors’ money. 

The SEC tallied another six similar schemes, featuring a network of aliases and short-lived UK corporate registrations that Auzins used to lend legitimacy to the projects. 

The commission is asking the court of the Eastern District of New York to keep Auzins, a Latvian national, from participating in any future securities offerings. They are also seeking a return of the funds that Auzins has already gained from investors. 

Auzins is only the latest in a long string of ICO operators from the 2017-2018 boom who the SEC has targeted.