Steven Seagal On Hook For SEC Crypto Fine Despite Move To Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a presidential decree in 2016 granting the actor Russian citizenship.
(Bloomberg) -- Steven Seagal who starred in the film “Beyond the Law” found out that even relocating to Russia doesn’t mean he’s beyond the reach of U.S. courts as the Securities and Exchange Commission won a judgment against him.
A federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, said the SEC can go through Seagal’s business manager to try and collect more than $200,000 that the actor owes the U.S. government for failing to disclose he was being paid to promote a digital token.
U.S. District Judge William Kuntz signed the order Friday allowing the SEC to pursue collection of the remaining fines, penalties and interest. Seagal had agreed to pay a disgorgement of more than $330,000, but the actor made just one $75,000 payment and is delinquent on the remainder, according to a letter from Maureen Peyton King, a lawyer for the SEC.
Chris Nassif, a spokesman for Seagal, didn’t immediately have a comment about the court order.
Seagal agreed to settle the commission’s allegations that he’d been promised $250,000 in cash and $750,000 in tokens for promoting an initial coin offering for Bitcoiin2Gen. In social media posts, Seagal had urged fans not to miss out on the offering. The actor settled the allegations without admitting or denying wrongdoing.
Seagal, who now lives in Moscow, hasn’t responded to the SEC’s repeated demands after making his initial payment, according to the commission. Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a presidential decree in 2016 granting the actor Russian citizenship.
Kuntz last week directed Seagal or his representatives to appear in court to respond to the SEC. But on Friday, neither Seagal, his former lawyer nor his manager appeared.
After Kuntz signed the order Friday afternoon, Peyton King asked if she could serve the papers upon King’s business manager.
“Absolutely, yes,” Kuntz said with a smile.
The case is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Seagal, 21-mc-01797, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).
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