All about Hollywood stars Lindsay Lohan, Akon and Lil Yacty embroiled in a Crypto scheme

Hollywood actor Lindsay Lohan, rapper Akon and several other celebrities have agreed to pay tens of thousands of dollars to settle claims they promoted crypto investments to their millions of social media followers without disclosing they were being paid to do so. Above: Lindsay Lohan.

Lohan isn't the only one in trouble. Pop star Akon (above), recording artists Ne-Yo, and Lil Yachty, boxer and internet personality Jake Paul, and adult film performer Michele Mason all agreed to pay more than $400,000 combined in disgorgement, interest and penalties to settle the claims, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday.

None admitted or denied the SEC’s findings as part of the settlement. Two other celebrities named in the SEC’s complaint, rapper Soulja Boy and pop singer Austin Mahone (above), did not reach a settlement with the SEC, the agency said.

In response to a request for comment, Lohan’s publicist Leslie Sloane said the actress was contacted in March 2022, was unaware of the disclosure requirement, and agreed to pay a fine to resolve the matter. Lohan, who last week announced she is pregnant , was called to give up the $10,000 (Dh36,725) she was paid, plus interest, and pay a $30,000 (Dh110,175) fine, according an SEC complaint.

A spokeswoman for Paul declined to comment. Emails left with representatives for the other celebrities named in the SEC complaint weren’t immediately returned Wednesday. In the complaint filed by the SEC in federal court in New York, the agency claims the celebrities were paid to promote Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT), both crypto asset securities that were offered for sale by three companies owned by Justin Sun, a Chinese national. Sun is the permanent representative of Grenada to the World Trade Organization and may be living in Singapore or Hong Kong, according to the complaint. Above: Rapper Lil Yachty.

Starting at around August 2017, Sun allegedly offered to sell billions in the unregistered securities and engaged in manipulative trading, while also creating secondary markets on which Tronix and BitTorrent could be traded, according to the complaint. “Although the celebrities were paid to promote TRX and BTT, their touts on social media did not disclose that they had been paid or the amounts of their payments,” according to the complaint. “Thus, the public was misled into believing that these celebrities had unbiased interest in TRX and BTT, and were not merely paid spokespersons.” In the pic above, you can see Ne-Yo also included in the charge-sheet.

Many celebrities including Reese Witherspoon (above) and athletes have used their influence and massive social media followings to promote cryptocurrencies in recent years, including Matt Damon and Tom Brady. But doing so without disclosing when they’re being paid to do so is illegal, and has landed some big names in hot water with securities regulators.

Last fall, Kim Kardashian agreed to pay a $1 million fine to settle federal charges that she recommended Ethereum Max tokens, a crypto security, to her millions Instagram followers without making clear that she was paid to do so.

Recently, Bollywood star Arshad Warsi and his wife Maria Goretti landed in similar trouble. The investigation began after SEBI received complaints alleging that certain entities were engaging in price manipulation and offloading shares of Sadhna Broadcast Ltd and Sharpline Broadcast Ltd. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has reportedly banned several entities, including the actor and his wife, YouTuber Manish Mishra and promoters of Sadhna Broadcast - Shreya Gupta, Gaurav Gupta, Saurabh Gupta, Pooja Aggarwal and Varun Media - from the securities market in a case related to uploading misleading videos on YouTube channels recommending investors to buy the company's shares. According to the interim order, ‘Munna Bhai' actor made a profit of Rs 29.43 lakh, Maria Goretti earned a profit of Rs 37.56 lakh. However, the actor took to Twitter and requested everyone not to believe in hearsay. He also mentioned that he and his wife lack knowledge of the stock market.