Deep Tide TechFlow News, on July 9, according to reporter Eleanor Terrett, well-known lawyer John E. Deaton filed a class action lawsuit for securities fraud against Linqto founder and former CEO William Sarris on behalf of thousands of retail investors. The lawsuit accuses Sarris of orchestrating a years-long fraudulent scheme by selling shares of private companies such as Ripple, Uphold, and Kraken through SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicles) on the Linqto platform, during which undisclosed high markups (up to 60%), misleading exemptions, and unauthorized sales strategies were used.
According to the lawsuit documents, Sarris ignored warnings from internal legal memos in 2023 and 2024 that these actions violated multiple regulations of the SEC and FINRA, including operating as an unregistered broker-dealer and running an unregistered investment company.
Deaton emphasized that this lawsuit targets Sarris personally, is not subject to bankruptcy protection, and any compensation received from liability insurance or settlements will be used to help the victimized investors.
