On February 17, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce with illegally promoting the EMAX token on his social media accounts. The EMAX token was offered and sold by EthereumMax.
According to the complaint, Pierce has agreed to pay a penalty of $1,115,000, plus approximately $240,000 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest, without admitting or denying guilt, to avoid greater sanctions from regulators. He is also prohibited from promoting any crypto asset securities for three years.
Today we announced charges against former NBA player Paul Pierce for touting EMAX tokens on social media without disclosing the payment he received for the promotion and for making false and misleading promotional statements about the same crypto asset.
— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) February 17, 2023
Showing Fake Investments to Promote EMAX?
The SEC alleges that Pierce fraudulently promoted the purchase of the EMAX token without publicly disclosing that EthereumMax paid him over $244,000 in EMAX for promoting it.
The accused even posted screenshots of a fake account that showed significant profits and holdings using EMAX. However, it was all fake, as “his own personal holdings were, in fact, much lower than those in the screenshot.”
