Three media companies will pay $539 million to settle SEC lawsuit
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged GTV Media Group, Saraca Media and Voice of Guo Media with unregistered offerings of stock and digital assets. The defendants have agreed to pay more than $539 million as part of the lawsuit settlement.
According to the SEC, from April through June 2020, the companies illegally offered GTV common stock and digital securities in the form of tokens called G-Coin or G-Dollar.
Defendants disseminated information about the asset offerings through the GTV and Saraca websites and on social media.
The companies raised a total of about $487 million from more than 5,000 investors, including U.S. residents, according to regulators. Both of the firms' securities offerings did not register.
Issuers seeking to access the markets through a public offering of securities must provide investors with disclosures under federal law. If they fail to do so, the Commission will seek remedies for those affected, including cancellation of the offering and refunds, said an SEC spokesperson.
Without admitting or denying the Commission's findings, the firms have agreed to pay more than $486 million in compensation and about $18 million in interest. GTV and Saraca will also pay $15 million each in civil penalties and Voice of Guo will pay $5 million.
As a reminder, the SEC collected more than $4.68 billion in penalties and fines in 2020. A quarter of that amount - $1.26 billion - came from tokenseals.