*The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged rapper and actor T.I. for promoting an unregistered initial coin offering on social media.
Decrypt reports the rapper along with four others were charged for the fraudulent operations. The SEC said T.I. claimed to be a co-owner of the streaming platform FLiK and tried to convince fans to invest in the company via social media. Among the four suspects was Atlanta-based film producer Ryan Felton who allegedly raised funds using ICOs for FLiK and digital trading platform CoinSpark then transferred the FLiK coins into his personal bank account. He exchanged the digital coins for $2 million and used it to purchase Ferrari, jewelry, a million-dollar home, and other items.
Earlier this year, T.I. was dismissed by a judge from a class-action lawsuit in relation to the FLiK ICO after he and Felton were accused of promoting unregistered security and dropping the token when it was priced at $0.21. Other people involved in the case were T.I.’s social media manager, William Sparks, Jr., film industry workers Chance White and Owen Smith who apparently promoted CoinSpark without disclosing they were paid to promote the company.
