Steven Seagal Will Pay $314,000 for ‘Unlawfully Touting’

Actor Steven Seagal’s pockets simply took successful, with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday asserting the previous motion star pays a $314,000 settlement for “unlawfully touting” a cryptocurrency funding.

According to the SEC, the “Above the Law” actor acquired $250,000 in money and one other $750,000 price of Bitcoiin2Gen (B2G) to advertise B2G on his social media accounts. The authorities company discovered that the actor warned his followers to not “miss out” on B2G’s preliminary coin providing — which is basically an IPO however for cryptocurrencies — and issued a press launch dubbed “Zen Master Steven Seagal Has Becoe the Brand Ambassador of Bitcoiin2Gen.”

Seagal did not adjust to federal anti-touting legal guidelines, in line with the SEC, by selling the coin with out disclosing the “nature, scope and amount of compensation received in exchange for” his promotion.

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“These investors were entitled to know about payments Seagal received or was promised to endorse this investment so they could decide whether he may be biased,” mentioned Kristina Littman, chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Cyber Unit. “Celebrities are not allowed to use their social media influence to tout securities without appropriately disclosing their compensation.”

A quote from Seagal, the place he mentioned he “wholeheartedly” endorsed B2G, was additionally featured in a B2G press launch. The press launch got here out in early 2018 — a couple of months after Bitcoin had reached $20,000 per coin and the cryptocurrency market was at its peak — claiming B2G was a “more advanced” model.

As a part of the settlement, Seagal has agreed to pay $157,000 in disgorgement, to cowl his promotional funds and a $157,000 penalty. Seagal can be not allowed to advertise any securities for 3 years; he didn’t admit or deny the SEC’s findings as a part of his settlement.

A rep for Seagal, who rose to fame within the late ’80s and early ’90s starring in motion movies reminiscent of “Under Siege” and “Hard to Kill,” didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.