The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced on Friday, Sept. 11 that T.I. charged with fraudulent investment activity, Clifton “T.I.” Harris Jr., was charged with investment fraud for helping his friend and Atlanta-based film producer Ryan Felton raise money for a fraudulent company.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has disclosed that the Atlanta rapper will have to pay the government a fat sum of money as restitution for his participation in alleged trading fraud.
T.I., Felton, and T.I.’s social media manager William Sparks, Jr., were all named by the SEC as participants in the case. Felton, who claimed he was seeking investors for his digital companies FliK and CoinSpark, was apparently misappropriating the funds to purchase a bevy of luxury items for himself including high-end jewelry and clothing, a million-dollar mansion, and a Ferrari to fuel his own appetites.
T.I. reportedly encouraged fans and social media followers to invest in the venture and ensured them that he himself was an investor.
T.I. also asked a celebrity friend to promote the FLiK ICO on social media and provided the language for posts, referring to FLiK as T.I.’s “new venture.” The SEC’s complaint alleges that T.I.’s social media manager William Sparks, Jr. offered and sold FLiK tokens on T.I.’s social media accounts, and that two other Atlanta residents, Chance White and Owen Smith, promoted SPARK tokens without disclosing they were promised compensation in return.
The SEC says T.I. has agreed to pay $75,000 as a civil penalty and not participate in any digital assets trading or promotion for the next five years. His social media manager will also have to pay a $25,000 penalty to the government.
Felton, who is accused of illegally diverting the funds and misleading innocent and hopeful investors to invest during these tumultuous times has been slapped with both civil and criminal charges by the U.S. District Court of Northern Georgia.
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