U.S. and Canadian authorities appear determined to make an example of a recent initial coin offering.
On Friday, a Canadian court ordered a two-month jail sentence against PlexCoin creator Dominic Lacroix and $100,000 in fines against his company for contempt of court, according to Radio Canada. The day before, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sought extensions of its restraining order, asset freeze and order against destruction of documents by PlexCoin and its organizers, according to FinanceFeeds.
PlexCoin promised a platform that would provide the same services as bitcoin, but do so faster. “This implies a huge success for PlexCoin as soon as it launches,” its website said.
Quebec’s finance regulator, Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), had ordered PlexCoin and its parent company, DL Innov, to cancel the sale. When it allegedly did not, the AMF sought and attained a court order. Last week’s ruling by the superior court in Quebec follows the continuation of the offering in violation of the court order.
‘We do not care’
Judge Marc Lesage cited the “flippancy” of the defendants in documents seized by the AMF in justifying the fine and sentence.
“We do not care about the AMF, ” Lacroix wrote to an employee, according to the Radio Canada story, as translated from French using Google Translate.
The U.S. court orders enjoining PlexCoin and DL Innov expire on Dec. 12, but the SEC sought an order to extend them in a hearing of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, where the company has been asked to show cause why they should not expire.
The company is believed to have raised $15 million, of which $810,000 remains deposited at the payment processor Stripe, according to the SEC, and an unknown amount remains in crypto-wallets controlled by the company, FinanceFeeds reports.
Wooden toys image via Shutterstock.
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. Have breaking news or a story tip to send to our journalists? Contact us at news@coindesk.com.