US watchdog lays charges in dodgy coin offering touted by Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled
New York — The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday laid charges over a fraudulent cryptocurrency fundraiser that boxer Floyd Mayweather and rapper DJ Khaled touted on social media. Neither celebrity is accused in the scheme, which the SEC said raised more than $32m from thousands of investors. The SEC charged Sohrab "Sam" Sharma and Robert Farkas, co-founders of Centra Tech, with violating the anti-fraud and registration provisions of US securities laws. Initial coin offerings (ICOs) have sprung from nowhere to become a hugely popular way for start-ups to raise funds online, offering self-created digital "tokens" or coins to any willing buyer. But regulators around the world have warned of the risks of fraud, the volatility of virtual currencies and the lack of clarity on what a "token" represents. Sharma and Farkas are accused of masterminding a fraudulent ICO in which Centra offered and sold unregistered investments through a "CTR Token". The charges, filed in Ne...
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