IN THIS ISSUE
District Court Denies Payday Lender's Bid To Dismiss SEC Enforcement Action; Delaware Chancery Court Dismisses Camping World Insider Trading Derivative Suit; California Federal Judge Certifies Class Of Apple Common-Stock Holders Alleging Company Made Misleading Statements About iPhone Sales; BlockFi To Pay $100 Million In Penalties For Failing To Register Its Crypto Lending Product; SEC Proposes Changes To Whistleblower Program Rules
On February 2, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in SEC v. Sky Group USA LLC, et al., denied Sky Group USA LLC (“Sky Group”) and its CEO Efran Betancourt’s motion to dismiss a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission complaint alleging that the payday lending business fraudulently raised more than $66 million from over 500 investors. The SEC alleged that Sky Group violated both the Securities Act and Exchange Act by selling promissory notes to investors while falsely representing that their investments would be used to fund consumer payday loans, and would be returned over the course of the year with interest. The SEC alleges that Sky Group instead spent significant portions of these investor funds on other business expenses, Betancourt’s personal expenses, and “Ponzi-like” repayments to earlier investors. The defendants moved to dismiss, arguing that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the notes Sky Group sold to investors were not “securities” and therefore were not subject to...
NC said on Tuesday it filed a complaint with Seoul’s Gangnam Police Station against the operator of the YouTube channel Yeongraegi, alleging dissemination of false information and obstruction of b...