Cuban was deposed as half of a class-action lawsuit accusing him of selling a “Ponzi scheme” in Voyager Digital.
DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks proprietor Mark Cuban will face questioning subsequent month as half of depositions for a class-action lawsuit towards the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Voyager Digital, alleging the corporate was “an unregulated and unsustainable fraud.”
The criticism filed alleges that Cuban and Voyager CEO and Co-Founder Stephen Ehrlich personally reached out to traders, each individually and thru the Mavericks, to induce them to speculate into the corporate.
“Cuban and Ehrlich, as will be explained, went to great lengths to use their experience as investors to dupe millions of Americans into investing—in many cases, their life savings—into the Deceptive Voyager Platform and purchasing Voyager Earn Program Accounts (“EPAs”), which are unregistered securities,” the criticism reads.
The go well with alleges greater than 3.5 million individuals have misplaced greater than $5 billion in cryptocurrency property because of this of the platform, with the go well with intending to carry Ehrlich, Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks liable for reimbursing them.
Voyager was a multi-billion-dollar cell utility that positioned cryptocurrency commerce orders. The go well with states it might goal younger, inexperienced traders new to cryptocurrency buying and selling, promising curiosity funds on cryptocurrency holdings and that they’d obtain the absolute best worth on cryptocurrency trades.
But the go well with alleges that Voyagers’ statements and representations have been false, deceptive and violated a number of state and federal client statutes.
“The Deceptive Voyager Platform is based upon false pretenses, false representations, and is specifically designed to take advantage of investors that utilize mobile apps to make their investments, in an unfair, unsavory, and deceptive manner,” the criticism reads. “Simply put, Plaintiffs will prove that the Deceptive Voyager Platform is a house of cards, built on false promises and factually impossible representations that were specifically designed to take advantage of the cryptocurrency craze to the direct detriment of any ordinary investor.”
The go well with goes onto allege that Voyager defendants by no means disclosed deliberately setting the pricing on their platform excessive sufficient that they acquire exorbitant hidden commissions on each cryptocurrency commerce, regardless of claiming to be “100% commission-free.”
Cuban was cited within the criticism as strongly supporting and touting his partnership with Voyager at a current Dallas Mavericks press convention, the place he described how he would assist improve the scope and presence of Voyager.
“To put it simply: there’s untapped potential in the future of digital currencies and it’s an attractive investment for novice investors who might only have $100 to start,” Cuban mentioned on the time, in response to court docket paperwork. “That’s where Voyager enters the picture.”
While Cuban has disclosed the partnership between Voyager and the Dallas Mavericks, the go well with alleges he by no means disclosed the scope of the connection and the way a lot he has been paid personally for the promotion of Voyager, which the SEC has mentioned a failure to reveal this information could be violating anti-touting provisions of federal securities legal guidelines.
Cuban beforehand referred to as Voyager “as close to risk free as you’re gonna get in the crypto universe,” the criticism states, and as soon as staged a press convention with Ehrlich the place New York Knick Jalen Brunson, a Maverick on the time, requested ““If this is my first time getting into crypto, what are some key things I need to know?”
“[T]he Deceptive Voyager Platform was a massive Ponzi scheme, and it relied on Cuban’s and the Dallas Maverick’s vocal support and Cuban’s monetary investment in order to continue to sustain itself until its implosion and Voyager’s subsequent bankruptcy,” the go well with alleges.
Cuban requested his deposition be break up into two periods, however a choose denied his request, and his full deposition shall be taken on Feb. 2.
WFAA reached out to Cuban for remark and didn’t obtain a response.
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