The Founder of crypto bank AriseBank, Jared Rice Sr., who was arrested last year pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud Wednesday in federal court.
Reportedly, neither the cards nor the FDIC accounts existed, though Rice happily accepted both crypto and fiat during his ICO. The Said ICO was halted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January 2018. As per the plea agreement, Rice and the U.S. government agreed that the defendant should spend 60 months in prison.
Rice faces a maximum sentence of 20 years, a $5 million fine, three years’ supervised release, restitution, and forfeiture. As for the plea deal, it depends on federal judge Ed Kinkeade, of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, signing off on the 60-month sentence.
Rice was arrested by the FBI, last November after the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Texas charged him with three counts of securities fraud and three counts of wire fraud. Rice has already paid $2.7 million in disgorgement and another roughly $190,000 in penalties to settle a civil charge with the SEC.
Stanley Ford, Rice’s former chief operating officer also settled similar charges with an identical monetary fine. Neither admitted or denied the SEC’s charges, though they have had agreed to lifetime bans from serving as officers or directors of public companies, as well as a lifetime ban from participating in digital securities offerings.
Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We try our best to keep things fair and balanced, in order to help you make the best choice for you.
