SEC Blasted by Judge for ‘Gross Abuse of Power’ in Crypto Case
- Federal judge says agency undermined process in DEBT Box case
- He sanctioned the SEC, ordered it to pay company legal fees
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A federal judge in Utah took the extremely unusual step of sanctioning the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying that the regulator abused its authority in a case against crypto platform Digital Licensing Inc., known as DEBT Box.
The SEC’s conduct “constitutes a gross abuse of the power entrusted to it by Congress and substantially undermined the integrity of these proceedings and the judicial process,” Robert Shelby, a federal district court judge in Salt Lake City, said in an 80-page legal filing on Monday. He also ordered the agency to pay DEBT Box’s attorney’s fees and other costs related to the restraining order that the regulator had sought against the crypto platform.