Quebec firm ordered to pay millions in disgorgement

A U.S. court has ordered a Quebec-based firm that carried out an unregistered initial coin offering (ICO) and its founders to pay US$6.9 million in fines and disgorgement.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a final judgment against PlexCorps, Dominic LaCroix and Sabrina Paradis-Royer, ordering them to pay $4.9 million in disgorgement and interest. LaCroix and Paradis-Royer must also each pay $1 million civil penalties.

Back in 2017, the SEC filed a complaint against PlexCorps, LaCroix, and Paradis-Royer alleging that they “fraudulently raised millions of dollars in virtual and fiat currency from the unregistered sales of PlexCoin based on a series of false and misleading statements to potential and actual investors.”

The SEC said that the latest court judgment also requires the defendants to forgo their rights to approximately $4 million worth of investor funds that were seized by a receiver appointed by the Superior Court of Québec, and $800,000 frozen by U.S. courts.

The SEC said that any distribution of money to harmed investors will be coordinated with the Autorité des marchés financiers.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.