Fraud Alleged at Three Israeli ICOs That Raised $250M

Three Israeli initial coin offerings (ICOs) linked to entrepreneur Moshe Hogeg are claimed to have been scams in a lawsuit.

• As reported by The Times of Israel on Monday, the lawsuit filed May 25 claims token sales from Sirin Labs, Stx Technologies Limited (Stox) and Leadcoin had raised $250 million in total from investors, but the companies didn't develop products as investors had been promised.
• Instead, the allegation from former employees of Hogeg-owned entities is that the funds were appropriated for personal use.
• Hogeg and other defendants didn't respond to a Times of Israel request for comment. Hogeg, who owns 70% of Singulariteam, denied the allegations in another report, the online newspaper said.
• Roee Brocial and Eran Okashi brought the $1.6 million lawsuit against Moshe Hogeg, Adi Sheleg, Ido Sadeh Man, Yaron Shalem, Shmuel Asher Grizim, Avishai Ziv, Singulariteam Holding II and Singulariteam Ltd.
• The plaintiffs, employees of Sirin Labs and Singulariteam, respectively, are said to be on unpaid leave.
• They claim that they were fooled into investing their own money in the ICOs, and encouraging friends and family to do the same, suffering financial harm and psychological trauma as a result, according to the report.
• The owner of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team, Hogeg has been hit by a number of lawsuits, including one over $5.9 million in allegedly unpaid factory bills for the Sirin blockchain phone.