Regarding the OneCoin fraud case, Ripple Labs’ Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty has noted that crypto frauds could be contested in ways other than political.
Ripple CLO Calls Out SEC’s Political Approach
A few days ago, the United States Court system sentenced Irina Dilkinska, the ex-head of Legal and Compliance at OneCoin to four years imprisonment.
This ruling was in line with her involvement in the crypto pyramid scheme that stole more than $4 billion from unsuspecting investors. A few people involved with the case have been indicted by the U.S. government.
Ripple CLO used this case as his reference to address the authorities’ shortcomings in terms of crypto cases.
By Alderoty’s post, he seems to be pointing to the public opinion that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is launching a political battle in the crypto industry. This comes after Gurbir Grewal, an SEC Director stated that the commission acts with integrity in crypto regulation. Grewal was attempting to address claims that the SEC engages in regulation through enforcement.
The statement triggered Ripple CLO to react as he criticized the SEC Director’s claim about the Commission. To buttress his argument, he cited some instances when federal courts rebuked the SEC for failing to act in good faith. One such event is the Debt Box case which highlighted the SEC’s gross abuse of power.
The SEC accused Debt Box of defrauding investors of over $50 million. This led to a restraining order and an asset freeze against Debt Box, which in turn impacted negatively on the company’s operation. In the long run, the Commission admitted to presenting false statements in court against Debt Box.
On this matter, XRP lawyer John E. Deaton voiced his concerns about potential government overreach in the Debt Box case.
Track of SEC’s Animosity Toward Crypto
Ripple CLO also recalled how a district judge admonished the regulator for its lack of faithful allegiance to the law in the Ripple lawsuit.
Additionally, in the SEC lawsuit against Grayscale Investments, the court declared that the SEC acted arbitrarily and capriciously. Furthermore, Alderoty cited some other inconsistencies in the SEC’s guidance on crypto.
A similar action from the SEC was seen in 2023 as the commission launched a series of enforcement actions against cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken. To correct this trend, many Ripple supporters are advocating for new laws to be introduce to stop such vindictive charges.
