US court orders Crowd Machine and Metavine to return more than $19.67 million in illegal ICO funds

According to a revised final judgment issued by the Northern District Court of California, defendants Crowd Machine and Metavine are ordered to return $19,676,401.27 raised from investors through unregistered fraudulent offerings, plus $3,358,147.75 in pre-judgment interest. The court ruled that the defendants and their subsidiary, Metavine Pty, jointly and severally pay a $5 million forfeiture penalty, and ordered each defendant to pay a $600,000 civil penalty.

It is reported that the US SEC indictment accuses defendants Crowd Machine and Metavine, as well as founder Craig Sproule, of making significant false and misleading statements in the issuance and sale of unregistered cryptocurrency securities.