The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that the federal court has fined AriseBank’s two former execs nearly $2.7 million.
Former CEO Jared Rice Sr. and then-COO Stanley Ford were accused of offering and selling unregistered investments in their purported “AriseCoin” cryptocurrency. The allegedly fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) scheme was stopped by the SEC earlier this year.
Rice and Ford lied to AriseBank’s investors by pitching the company as a first-of-its kind decentralized bank offering its own cryptocurrency for customer products and services,” said Shamoil T. Shipchandler, Director of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office. “The officer-and-director bar and digital securities offering bar will prevent Rice and Ford from engaging in another cryptoasset-based fraud.
Rice and Ford agreed to be held jointly and severally liable for $2,259,543 in disgorgement plus $68,423 in prejudgment interest, and each must pay a $184,767 penalty. They also agreed to lifetime bars from serving as officers and directors of public companies and participating in digital securities offerings, and permanent prohibitions against violating the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws.
The official announcement can be seen here.