Securities and Exchange Commissions of US and PH Work Against Forsage

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged the founders and promoters of the blockchain platform Forsage. Together with the SEC Philippines, it found the platform to be operating under a pyramid scheme. Forsage allegedly raised $300 million from retail investors worldwide. The charges were filed against 11 individuals including four of the platform’s founders consisting of Vladimir Okhotnikov, Jane Doe (alias “Lola Ferrari“), Mikhail Sergeev, and Sergey Maslakov.

Charges were also filed against three promoters based in the US and members of Crypto-Crusaders — a promotional group of Forsage. The platform launched in January 2020. It allowed retail investors to enter into transactions via smart contracts which operated on the Ethereum, Tron, and Binance blockchains. However, Forsage operated as a multilevel marketing scheme. Investigations found that sales teams recruited investors who would later be encouraged to recruit others in exchange for a sales commission.

The SEC Philippines provided its support by sharing information gathered by the Enforcement and Investor Protection Department. In September 2020, the PH regulator a cease and desist order (CDO) against Forsage. This was based on the illegal solicitation of investments. Prior to this, the SEC also urged the public not to invest in schemes offered by Forsage and similar entities that were unregistered.

“We, at the SEC Philippines, commend the US SEC for bringing down an investment scam of this scale and stopping it from further victimizing helpless individuals across the globe,” noted SEC Philippines Chairman Emilio Aquino. “The SEC Philippines is always ready to collaborate with its counterparts in other jurisdictions, as well as other regulators, to stamp out investment scams in other parts of the world.”

Source: Manila Times