SEC fines two individuals over $23 million each for alleged Ormeus Coin fraud

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a document stating that according to the judgment of the Southern District Court of New York on March 15, defendants John Barksdale and JonAtina (Tina) Barksdale were each fined $23,148,731 for alleged cryptocurrency fraud, and they were also jointly and individually paid $46,297,463. disgorgement and prejudgment interest of $10,044,822. The SEC lawsuit alleges that from June 2017 to March 2022, the Barksdales raised tens of millions of dollars through two unregistered fraudulent securities offerings involving a crypto asset known as "Ormeus Coin." Additionally, from June 2017 to April 2018, the Barksdales offered and sold subscription packages that included Ormeus Coin through a multi-level marketing business called Ormeus Global, the SEC alleges. The defendants falsely claimed that Ormeus Coin was backed by one of the largest crypto asset mining operations in the world, even though they abandoned the mining operation after grossing less than $3 million in mining revenue in 2019.