The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a temporary restraining order against a Utah-based company, DEBT Box, accusing the company and its principals of defrauding investors out of about $49 million through a crypto scheme.

The Anderson brothers, Jason and Jacob, and 15 others allegedly orchestrated a large-scale financial operation in March 2021 that raked in large sums of money from US investors in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

The group allegedly marketed and sold “contract licenses,” unregistered securities supposedly designed to produce crypto-asset tokens via crypto-mining activities.

They reassured investors that many income-generating companies in many sectors would drive the values ​​of these tokens.

According to the narrative woven by the accused, these companies will mine and increase the value of the various tokens that the DEBT fund deals with.

However, the SEC now claims that the money raised from the sales of these node software licenses was not used as promised. Instead, they allegedly served to fund a lavish lifestyle for the defendants, including the purchase of luxury cars, homes, and extravagant vacations.

The director of the SEC’s Salt Lake Regional Office, Tracy S.

“We allege that DEBT Box and its principals deceived investors in virtually every significant aspect of their unregistered securities offering. This included fraudulent claims of involvement in mining crypto assets. We have taken this emergency measure to protect victims of the defendants’ illegal activities and prevent further harm.”

In addition to the restraining order, the SEC secured a temporary asset freeze and other emergency relief to prevent further illicit activities.

The defendants are accused of selling unregistered securities, including crypto assets such as BLGD and DEBT.

The agency cracked down on cryptocurrencies and classified some digital assets as securities. They recently named HEX a security after accusations that its founder sold unregistered securities.