On December 1, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against a recidivist Quebec securities law violator, Dominic Lacroix, and his company, PlexCorps, in an emergency action to halt an alleged Initial Coin Offering (ICO) fraud that raised up to $15 million from thousands of investors. The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, alleges that Lacroix and PlexCorps marketed and sold securities called PlexCoin on the internet to investors in the U.S. and elsewhere, claiming that investments in PlexCoin would yield a 1,354 percent profit in less than 29 days. The SEC also charged Lacroix's partner, Sabrina Paradis-Royer, in connection with the scheme.

Based on its filing, the SEC obtained an emergency court order to freeze the assets of PlexCorps, Lacroix, and Paradis-Royer.

The SEC's complaint charges Lacroix, Paradis-Royer, and PlexCorps with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act). The complaint also alleges that Lacroix and PlexCorps violated Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act.  The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement plus interest, and penalties.  For Lacroix, the SEC also seeks an officer-and-director bar and a bar from offering digital securities against Lacroix and Paradis-Royer.