Actor Steven Seagal fled to Moscow, refusing to pay the entire fine for advertising a cryptocurrency startup
What happened?
In 2018, Steven Seagal became an ambassadorstartup Bitcoiin2Gen (the two letters “i” in the name are not a mistake). The actor actively promoted the ICO campaign on his social networks. This helped the startup raise $75 million. But the music didn’t play for long.
In the spring of 2018, the Securities BureauNew Jersey has stopped initial coin offerings to protect investors from scams. Two years later, Steven Seagal was fined $314,000 by the Securities and Exchange Commission for concealing income received from advertising an ICO campaign.
The Hollywood actor was banned from participatingin advertising of shares and securities for three years. Seagal agreed to pay a fine of $330,000. However, only the first payment in the amount of $75,000 was made on time.
Having fallen behind on all other payments ($255,000),Steven Seagal fled to Moscow. He received Russian citizenship in 2016. The Securities Commission obtained permission from the court to collect fines and interest through the actor's representative.