U.S. court issues injunction against Blockvest and its founder for making "fraudulent offers of securities"

Today, Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, issued a preliminary injunction against Blockvest and its founder Reginald Buddy Ringgold for making "fraudulent offers of securities." Last November, Judge Curiel denied the SEC's request injunction request, stating that the "Plaintiff [SEC] has not demonstrated that the BLV tokens purchased by the 32 test investors were 'securities' as defined under the securities laws." Blockvest attempted to raise funding via an ICO to create a crypto trading platform.

In the newly released court documents, Judge Curiel now states that it has determined "that the SEC has demonstrated that the promotion of the ICO of the BLV token was a 'security' and satisfies the Howey test." According to the SEC, Ringgold misrepresented Blockvest's regulatory status to investors. Ringgold and Blockvest used "the SEC seal without permission and falsely claimed that their crypto fund was 'licensed and regulated.' Furthermore, Ringgold also promoted his firm's ICO with a fake regulatory agency which he named "Blockchain Exchange Commission."