The complaint alleges that with accomplices Felton promoted companies he controlled to perpetrate two separate frauds with the FLiK and CoinSpark ICOs.
He lied to investors saying that FLiK was being developed as a digital streaming platform that was “Netflix on Blockchain”. He also lied to investors claiming that CoinSpark was a digital asset trading platform.
Felton engaged in various manipulative trading tactics, to increase the price of the SPARK tokens.
Felton allegedly funneled all the funds raised in the ICOs to himself sometimes using “relief defendants”, Hyperion Holdings LLC. (Felton’s shell company), Stephanie L. Brown (Felton’s sister) Dale W. Felton (Felton’s father), and Jennifer Felton (his wife).
Felton allegedly used the funds, laundered through “relief defendants” to buy a new Ferrari, diamond jewelry, a million-dollar home, and other luxury items. None of the money was spent for the purposes stated in the offering.
In a statement, Carolyn M. Welshans, Associate Director in the Division of Enforcement, commented, “The federal securities laws provide the same protections to investors in digital asset securities as they do to investors in more traditional forms of securities. As alleged in the SEC’s complaint, Felton victimized investors through material misrepresentations, misappropriation of their funds, and manipulative trading.”
