Taxi-Top Ads and 'Asset-Backed' Tokens: SEC Sues Unicoin and Its Executives Over $100 Million Offering

Published Oct. 12, 2026. Case statuses are current as of that date, based on SEC records.

Unicoin's ads ran in major airports, on thousands of New York City taxis, on television and on social media. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the claims behind them didn't hold up.

On May 20, 2025, the SEC charged New York City-based Unicoin, Inc. and three top executives: CEO and board chairman Alex Konanykhin; Silvina Moschini, former president and board chairwoman and a current board member; and former chief investment officer Alex Dominguez. The case concerns an offering of "rights certificates" that purportedly conveyed rights to receive crypto assets called Unicoin tokens, and an offering of Unicoin common stock. The SEC says the offerings raised more than $100 million from thousands of investors [1].

What the SEC alleges

According to the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York [1][2], Unicoin and its executives convinced more than 5,000 investors to buy rights certificates through false and misleading statements, including claims that:

• the tokens were "asset-backed" by billions of dollars in real estate and pre-IPO equity, when the SEC says Unicoin's assets were never worth more than a small fraction of that;
• the company had sold more than $3 billion in rights certificates, when the SEC says it raised no more than $110 million; and
• the certificates and tokens were "SEC-registered" or "U.S. registered," when they were not.

The SEC also alleges Unicoin and Konanykhin made unregistered offers and sales, and that Konanykhin sold more than 37.9 million of his own rights certificates at better prices to investors the company had barred from its offering [1].

"We allege that Unicoin and its executives exploited thousands of investors with fictitious promises that its tokens, when issued, would be backed by real-world assets including an international portfolio of valuable real estate holdings," said Mark Cave, associate director in the SEC's Division of Enforcement [1].

The general counsel's settlement

The complaint also charges Unicoin's general counsel, Richard Devlin, with negligently making similar misstatements in offering memoranda. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Devlin consented to a final judgment with an injunction and a $37,500 civil penalty [1].

Status

The other defendants have not settled, according to the SEC materials we reviewed. The SEC seeks injunctions, disgorgement, penalties and officer-and-director bars [1][3]. As of Oct. 12, 2026, we found no later judgment on sec.gov. The release does not mention criminal charges.

What an SEC civil case is (and isn't)

The SEC is a civil regulator. When it "charges" someone, it files a lawsuit in federal court or brings an administrative proceeding asking for remedies such as injunctions, repayment of allegedly ill-gotten gains (disgorgement), civil money penalties and industry bars. It cannot send anyone to prison. Criminal charges, when there are any, are brought separately by federal prosecutors, and a defendant in a criminal case is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Allegations in an SEC complaint are claims the agency must prove in court unless a defendant settles. When a defendant settles "without admitting or denying" the allegations, the court or the Commission enters an order, but the defendant has not conceded that the allegations are true. Throughout this article, statements about what happened are allegations or findings as described by the SEC, not established facts, unless we say a court entered a judgment or a defendant pleaded guilty.

Red flags in this case

• Investments advertised as 'SEC-registered' (check EDGAR and Investor.gov yourself).
• Tokens 'backed' by assets whose value you can't verify independently.
• Mass-market advertising (taxis, airports, TV) for a private offering.

How to check an investment before you hand over money

• Look up the person and the firm on Investor.gov and FINRA BrokerCheck. A clean search is not proof of legitimacy, but a missing or mismatched record is a reason to stop.
• Read the offering documents yourself, and ask a fee-only professional you found independently to read them too.
• Be skeptical of "guaranteed" or fixed high returns. Real investments carry risk, and promises of safety plus high yield are a classic warning sign.
• Be wary of pressure. Deadlines, "limited allocations" and repeated calls are sales tactics, not investment analysis.
• Don't let trust in a group replace due diligence. Fraud often spreads through churches, ethnic and professional communities, online chat groups and friends-of-friends referrals.

If you think you were affected

1. Keep everything: account statements, emails, texts, wire and payment records, and any marketing material.
2. Report it to the SEC at sec.gov/tcr. If a criminal case is involved, you can also contact the FBI at ic3.gov or the prosecutors' victim-witness office.
3. Watch for a receiver or fair fund. In some SEC cases, money is later returned to harmed investors through a court-appointed receiver or a distribution fund. Notices are posted on sec.gov.
4. Beware of "recovery" offers. People who lost money are often targeted again by scammers promising to recover it for an upfront fee. Legitimate receivers and the SEC do not charge you to file a claim.

Case status (as of Oct. 12, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 12, 2026	Source
Unicoin, Inc.	U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. (SEC civil)	Sued May 20, 2025; litigation pending; no later judgment found on sec.gov	[1], [3]
Alex Konanykhin (CEO); Silvina Moschini; Alex Dominguez	U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. (SEC civil)	Sued May 20, 2025; litigation pending	[1], [3]
Richard Devlin (general counsel)	U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. (SEC civil)	Consented, without admitting or denying, to final judgment with injunction and $37,500 penalty	[1]

Statuses can change. SEC allegations are claims, not findings of wrongdoing, unless a court has ruled.

Sources

1. SEC Press Release 2025-75, "Unicoin, Top Executives Charged in Offering Fraud That Raised More than $100 Million from Thousands of Investors," May 20, 2025. https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025-75
2. SEC complaint, SEC v. Unicoin et al. (S.D.N.Y.). https://www.sec.gov/files/comp-pr-2025-75.pdf
3. SEC Litigation Release No. 26314, May 27, 2025. https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26314

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Corrections and updates: If you are named in this article, or represent someone who is, and believe anything here is inaccurate or out of date (including a dismissal, judgment, settlement or change in case status), please contact us at editorandchief@scammers.com. We will review it and update the article promptly.