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The Feds have their eye on a cryptocurrency scheme that T.I. got inadvertently wrapped up in, allegedly. The Atlanta rapper has been fined $75,000 for his involvement.
Reuters reports that on Friday (Sept. 11), T.I., born Clifford Harris, agreed to pay $75,000 to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to settle charges that he broke securities laws by selling fraudulent crypto-currency investments.
The “You Don’t Know Me” rapper and four associates who were involved in companies called FLiK and CoinSpark, which offered up cryptocurrency that Tip promoted. According to the SEC, back in 2017, T.I. was pushing “FLiK tokens” on his social media accounts while claiming he was FLiK co-owner—when he actually was not.
Per the settlement, T.I. didn’t confirm nor deny being involved in any sort of scam. Per his lawyer, T.I. expressed remorse at doing business with film producer Ryan Felton, who reportedly has a controlling stake in the aforementioned companies, and is the alleged ringleader.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Felton allegedly made some lavish purchases, included $1 million home and a Ferrari, with the money he finessed out of investors. While the others involved have agreed to settle the charges, Felton is reportedly still fighting the case, for now.
Eyebrows may raise because Tip’s lawyer, Henry E. Mazurek, says his client “fully cooperated” with the SEC after he claims to have discovered that Felton’s plot was suspect and stating that he never received a dime from him.
But hey, T.I. is a civilian, you think he’s going he can just ignore the Feds?
