SEC Adds Fraud Charges Against Purported Cryptocurrency Company Longfin, CEO, and Consultant

The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed a new fraud action against Longfin Corp. and its CEO for falsifying the company’s revenue and, together with a former Longfin consultant, for fraudulently securing the company’s listing on Nasdaq. The SEC’s prior charges against these defendants and two others resulted in a preliminary injunction freezing more than $27 million in allegedly illegal trading proceeds from unregistered distributions of Longfin stock. The action filed today in federal district court in Manhattan alleges that Longfin and its CEO, Venkata S. Meenavalli, conducted a fraudulent public offering of Longfin shares. The complaint alleges that Longfin and Meenavalli obtained qualification for a Regulation A+ offering by falsely representing in SEC filings that the company was principally managed and operated in the U.S.