share this article!

The headquarters of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. ANDREW KELLY/REUTERS Reuters, NEW YORK, July 9 – Three men were charged with insider trading by a US regulator on Friday, only days after Long Island Iced Tea Corp announced it will change its name to Long Blockchain Corp and shift its focus from iced tea and lemonade to blockchain, causing its stock to surge about 400%. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Eric Watson, who owned more than 30% of Long Island Iced Tea stock, leaked the information to his buddy and broker Oliver-Barret Lindsay, who then passed it on to his friend and stock promoter Gannon Giguiere. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Giguiere purchased 35,000 Long Island Iced Tea shares on December 20, 2017, and sold them the next day for a profit of $162,500, less than two hours after the company’s self-described “pivot” became public. Long Island Iced Tea’s stock soared 388 percent that day, bringing the company’s market value to $92.6 million from $23.8 million. According to the SEC, a colleague of Lindsay’s asked him why he wasn’t notified in advance to buy Long Island Iced Tea in a chat message that day, and Lindsay answered, “I assume I told everyone.” Lindsay and Giguiere’s lawyers did not reply to demands for comment right away. Watson’s lawyer could not be found right away. Watson, 60, is a New Zealand citizen who lives in London, Lindsay, 44, is a Canadian who lives in Vancouver, and Giguiere, 47, is from Newport Coast, California, according to the SEC. It is attempting to collect unlawful profits and levy civil fines. The complaint was filed in federal court in Manhattan. Long Island Iced Tea’s moves were part of a broader trend of businesses altering their business models to capitalize on blockchain technology, which underpins cryptocurrencies. The case is SEC v Watson et al, No. 21-05923, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Jonathan Stempel contributed reporting from New York, and Andrea Ricci edited the piece. The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles are our standards./nRead More

share this article!