CoinVoice has recently learned that, according to crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett, attorney John E Deaton has 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 claims that Sarris implemented a years-long fraudulent scheme by selling shares of private companies such as Ripple, Uphold, and Kraken on the Linqto platform through SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicles) with undisclosed markups of up to 60%, misleading exemption statements, and unlicensed sales.
According to the complaint, Sarris received internal legal memos from the company in 2023 and 2024, clearly warning that these issuance activities violated multiple SEC and FINRA regulations, including acting as an unregistered broker-dealer and operating an unregistered investment company, yet he chose to ignore them. Deaton stated that this lawsuit is against Sarris personally, and is not subject to bankruptcy protection. [Original link]
