Vy Pham
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 26153 / October 15, 2024
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Vy Pham, No. 1:24-cv-12588-AK (D. Mass. filed Oct. 9, 2024)
SEC Charges Promoter in Crackdown on Manipulation of Crypto Assets Offered and Sold as Securities
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges against Vy Pham, a resident of California, for engaging in schemes to manipulate the markets for two crypto assets, “Saitama Inu” and “Robo Inu,” being offered and sold as securities to retail investors. As alleged, the schemes were intended to induce investor victims to purchase the crypto assets by creating the false appearance of an active trading market for them.
According to the SEC’s complaint, crypto asset promoter Pham personally engaged in market manipulation of the Saitama Inu crypto asset through coordinated purchases with other promoters designed to lure in new investors by creating the illusion of growing market interest in Saitama Inu. For the Robo Inu crypto asset, Pham allegedly.hired so-called market maker Gotbit Consulting LLC to provide market-manipulation-as-a-service, which included generating artificial trading volume or manipulating the price of the Robo Inu crypto asset that was offered and sold as securities to retail investors in unregistered transactions.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleges that Pham violated Sections 5(a), 5(c),17(a)(1), and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 9(a)(2) and 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder. The complaint seeks a permanent injunction, conduct-based injunction, disgorgement of allegedly ill-gotten gains plus pre-judgment interest, civil penalties, and an officer-and-director bar. Pham consented to a bifurcated settlement, subject to court approval, permanently enjoining her from violating the charged provisions of the federal securities laws, subjecting her to a conduct-based injunction, and barring her from acting as an officer or director. The court will determine the amount of disgorgement and prejudgment interest and any civil penalties.
The SEC appreciates the assistance of the FBI and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, which has announced a parallel criminal action.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by David D’Addio, Amy Harman Burkart, Ivan Panchenko, Jeffrey Cook, and John McCann in the SEC’s Boston Regional Office, as well as Colin Missett and Joy Guo of the Crypto Asset and Cyber Unit (CACU). They were supervised by Amy Gwiazda, Michael Brennan, Donald Battle, and Jorge Tenreiro of CACU and by Celia Moore and John T. Dugan of the Boston Regional Office. The team also thanks the staff of the SEC’s Office of Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology for their assistance. The litigation will be led by Mr. D’Addio and Ms. Burkart.