Celebrity Cyber Report – Rapper T.I. Charged in Cryptocurrency Scam

Published On September 30, 2020 | By Tom Huskerson | Celebrity Cyber News

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hit rapper T.I. with charges involving a cryptocurrency scheme. T.I.,whose real name is Clifford Joseph Harris, was charged for allegedly promoting a fraudulent initial coin offering. According to the charges T.I. sold cryptocurrency tokens via his Twitter account and encouraged his followers to invest in the 2017 FLiK ICO (initial coin offering) while falsely claiming to be a part owner. 

The SEC claims the ICO was basically a scam run by film producer Ryan Felton. Felton promised to build “Netflix on the blockchain” but never delivered. Felton allegedly used money from FLiK ICO investors to drive up the price of a second token, SPARK, which Felton also controlled. 

Of course its no surprise that Felton is accused of using the money buy a Ferrari, diamond jewelry, a home, and unspecified “luxury goods.”

“FLiK’s promotional materials further promised that FLiK tokens would be redeemable on the FLiK platform for increasing amounts over the first year, with each FLiK redeemable for $3.99 after the first 3 months, $9.99 after 12 months, and $14.99 after 15 months,” explains the SEC. “No FLiK platform ever existed.”

SEC investigators claims that T.I. was an enthusiastic and active player in the fraud enlisting others to help him promote it.

“T.I. also asked a celebrity friend to promote the FLiK ICO on social media and provided the language for posts,” reads the SEC announcement, referring to FLiK as T.I.’s  “new venture.'”

According to the SEC, the FLiK ICO raised approximately 539 ether, which was worth around $164,665 at the time of September 20, 2017. 

Without admitting that he did anything wrong, T.I. agreed to pay a fine of $75,000, as well as to exclude himself from similar digital asset securities sales for the next five years. 

T.I. is not be the first celebrity to get caught up in cryptocurrency shenanigans. Others include Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled who were both fined for their involvement with digital currencies.

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About The Author

Tom Huskerson Bio Born in Richmond Virginia Tom Huskerson is a military veteran who settled in California after his discharge. Tom attended Santa Barbara City College where he began his writing career as a campus reporter. He worked as an intern news reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press writing feature stories before moving on to San Francisco. At San Francisco State University Tom studied broadcast communications and began to focus on the Internet. He completed his graduate thesis on Internet advertising. Tom was the first student to ever focus on the Internet as a graduate student at San Francisco State University. After graduation he went to work for Zona Research in California’s Silicone Valley. As a research associate Tom supported senior analyst writing on the latest developments in the Internet industry. During the dot com boom Tom worked for several web businesses as a market researcher and analyst. As a writer and researcher Tom has authored various technical works including a training program for Charles Schwab security. Other projects included professional presentations on workplace violence and hiring security contractors. Tom has also written both fiction and non-fiction works and blogging for a travel website. He has published two books of short stories and completed two novels. Tom is the owner of Scribe of Life Literature and EbonyCandle.com. Tom is not the chief editor for the OnTechStreet. com. A news and information blog that focuses on tech news for African-Americans. The blog is the result of his desire to inform the African American community of the dangers and benefits of the cyber age. In his blog Tom reports on information security, new and analysis, scams and hoaxes, legal happenings and various topics that arise from the age of information. Tom believes that technology is a necessary tool for black people and they should know what is happening. Tom writes believing that techno speak is for the professional and that valuable information can be communicated using plain language. As a result he has embraced the motto, Less Tech, More Knowledge.

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