There was a point where nearly every rapper in the game was promoting some sort of cryptocurrency. Though money is going electronic these days, it does open up room for possible fraud. Unfortunately, T.I. has found himself in the center of such controversy after the SEC charged him $75K for his role in movie producer Ryan Felton's crypto fraud scheme.
T.I. and three others settled their charges from the Security and Exchange Commission on Friday. They were charged a $75K fine for promoting two unregistered and fraudulent ICOs. A rep for Tip issued a statement to HipHopDX on the charges.
"Mr. Harris regrets his involvement with Mr. Felton,” the spokesperson told HHDX. “He attempted to help a local entrepreneur who presented an innovative idea for a streaming online platform that would help reduce the barriers of entry for creators of music and video content. Regrettably, Mr. Felton apparently never built the platform he promised T.I. and many others, and instead sought to profit from Mr. Harris’s popularity and reputation.”
“Mr. Harris never took a dollar from Mr. Felton’s failed venture and immediately removed his name from it once he learned that the project was undeveloped," the statement continued. "Mr. Harris responded to all inquiries made by the SEC, and the settlement announced [Friday] is in full satisfaction of that investigation. Mr. Harris will continue to look for ways to help new artists gain access to digital distribution.”
A press release from the SEC revealed that Felton was accused of embezzling money that was initially for FLiK and Coinsparks crypto. They said that he quietly swiped coins, selling them to the market for a profit amounting to $2.2M. “Felton allegedly used the funds he misappropriated and the proceeds of his manipulative trading to buy a Ferrari, a million-dollar home, diamond jewelry and other luxury goods," the press release said.
Check out the full document here.
