{"investigation":{"slug":"plexcoin","entity_name":"PlexCoin","trust_score":2,"severity_base":null,"score_modifier":0,"confidence":0.9,"status":"published","content_type":"investigation","summary":"PlexCoin was a token sold through an initial coin offering (ICO) run by the company PlexCorps and promoted by Dominic Lacroix and Sabrina Paradis-Royer, beginning in August 2017. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's newly formed Cyber Unit brought its first-ever case against the offering in December 2017, alleging an unregistered and fraudulent securities offering that promised investors returns of up to 1,354 percent in under 29 days; the case ended in a final judgment, a related criminal indictment, and parallel Quebec regulatory and criminal proceedings against the operators.","sections":[{"content":"On December 4, 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced it had filed charges against PlexCorps, its founder Dominic Lacroix, described by the SEC as a recidivist Quebec securities law violator, and his partner Sabrina Paradis-Royer, in connection with the PlexCoin ICO. The SEC alleged the offering raised up to $15 million from thousands of investors since August 2017 by falsely promising a 1,354 percent profit in less than 29 days. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (case No. 1:17-cv-07007-CBA-RML), charged the defendants with violating the anti-fraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, and the registration requirements of Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933. The SEC obtained an emergency court order freezing the defendants' assets. This was the first enforcement action brought by the SEC's newly created Cyber Unit, formed to pursue misconduct involving distributed ledger technology and ICOs.","heading":"SEC Emergency Action and Fraud Charges (December 2017)","sources":[{"url":"https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2017-219","name":"SEC Press Release 2017-219: SEC Emergency Action Halts ICO Scam","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2017/12/125400-sec-emergency-action-halts-plexcoin-ico-scam-first-charges-filed-new-sec-cyber-unit/","name":"SEC's Cyber Unit Files Fraud Charges Relating to PlexCoin ICO","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"On October 2, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a final judgment against PlexCorps, Dominic Lacroix, and Sabrina Paradis-Royer. Without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations, the defendants were permanently enjoined from future violations of the registration and anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws, and Lacroix and Paradis-Royer were barred from participating in any digital-securities offerings. The judgment ordered the defendants, jointly and severally, to disgorge $4,563,468 in allegedly ill-gotten gains plus $348,145 in prejudgment interest, and required Lacroix and Paradis-Royer to each pay a $1,000,000 civil penalty; combined, the penalties and disgorgement totaled roughly $6.9 million, reported by some outlets as approximately $7 million. Lacroix was also permanently barred from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company. The judgment allowed the defendants to satisfy part of the judgment using approximately $4 million in investor funds held by a Quebec court-appointed receiver and roughly $800,000 frozen in U.S. accounts, with the SEC indicating it would coordinate investor distributions with Quebec's Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).","heading":"Final Judgment and SEC Settlement","sources":[{"url":"http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr-24635","name":"SEC Litigation Release No. 24635: PlexCorps, Dominic Lacroix, and Sabrina Paradis-Royer","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/sec-settles-lawsuit-against-plexcoin-ico-for-7-million/","name":"SEC Settles Lawsuit against PlexCoin ICO for $7 Million","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"A federal grand jury sitting in Cleveland, Ohio indicted Dominic Lacroix, Yan Ouellet, and Sabrina Paradis-Royer, all of Quebec, on a five-count indictment charging conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which the Department of Justice announced in July 2020. The indictment alleged the defendants induced investors to purchase PlexCoin through false claims, with the first transfer of PlexCoin occurring in August 2017, and that investors purchased approximately $8 million worth of PlexCoin during the ICO. These criminal allegations are separate from, and in addition to, the earlier civil SEC settlement and have not been proven in court as of the sources reviewed.","heading":"Federal Criminal Indictment (2020)","sources":[{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2020-07-26-doj-plexcoin-ico-fraud-72921","name":"Department of Justice unveils fraud charges against three people involved in PlexCoin ICO","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://financefeeds.com/federal-grand-jury-indicts-trio-behind-phony-cryptocurrency-plexcoin/","name":"Federal grand jury indicts trio behind phony cryptocurrency PlexCoin","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"Quebec's securities regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), separately pursued Lacroix and his company, DL Innov inc. (doing business as PlexCorps/PlexCoin), before the SEC's action began. The Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal issued orders barring Lacroix and associated entities from soliciting Quebec investors, effective July 20, 2017. The AMF alleged the defendants continued soliciting investors in violation of those orders, and on October 17, 2017, the Superior Court of Quebec, District of Quebec, found Dominic Lacroix and DL Innov inc. guilty of contempt of court. On December 8, 2017, Justice Marc Lesage of the Superior Court of Quebec sentenced Lacroix and DL Innov to two months in prison and ordered them to pay a combined $110,000 in fines, the maximum penalties allowed under the applicable law; the AMF had sought six months' imprisonment, while the defense had sought a suspended sentence. The AMF's materials indicate this contempt judgment was appealed, though the outcome of that appeal was not identified in the sources reviewed.","heading":"Quebec Regulatory Orders, Contempt Finding, and Prison Sentence","sources":[{"url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/en/general-public/media-centre/news/fiche-dactualites/dossier-plexcoin-dominic-lacroix-et-dl-innov-inc-coupables-doutrage-au-tribunal","name":"AMF: PlexCoin - Dominic Lacroix and DL Innov inc. guilty of contempt of court proceedings","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://financefeeds.com/quebec-court-issues-prison-sentence-head-virtual-coin-scam-plexcoin/","name":"Quebec Court issues prison sentence to head of virtual coin scam PlexCoin","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"The SEC's complaint alleged that PlexCorps, Lacroix, and Paradis-Royer misrepresented the scale of their operations and how investor funds would be used, and that more than $200,000 in investor funds was spent on personal expenditures rather than invested as promised; some reporting put the alleged personal use of funds at around $600,000. The SEC also described Lacroix as a recidivist Quebec securities law violator, referencing his prior guilty plea to securities fraud in Quebec before the PlexCoin ICO began, and alleged the ICO proceeded despite earlier Quebec regulatory orders against him. These spending and prior-record allegations rely primarily on the SEC's complaint and are presented here as allegations rather than established fact, since the final judgment was entered without the defendants admitting or denying them.","heading":"Alleged Misuse of Investor Funds and Prior Record","sources":[{"url":"https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2017/12/125400-sec-emergency-action-halts-plexcoin-ico-scam-first-charges-filed-new-sec-cyber-unit/","name":"SEC Emergency Action Halts PlexCoin ICO Scam","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2017-219","name":"SEC Press Release 2017-219","type":"regulatory","credibility":1}],"severity":"medium"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2017-07-20","event":"Quebec's Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal bars Dominic Lacroix and associated entities from soliciting Quebec investors.","source":"Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF)","source_url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/en/general-public/media-centre/news/fiche-dactualites/dossier-plexcoin-dominic-lacroix-et-dl-innov-inc-coupables-doutrage-au-tribunal","date_evidence":"orders were rendered by the Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal barring them from doing so effective as of July 20, 2017"},{"date":"2017-08","event":"PlexCoin ICO begins; the first transfer of PlexCoin occurred in August 2017, according to the later federal indictment.","source":"The Block / federal indictment","source_url":"https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2020-07-26-doj-plexcoin-ico-fraud-72921"},{"date":"2017-10-17","event":"Superior Court of Quebec finds Dominic Lacroix and DL Innov inc. guilty of contempt of court for continuing to solicit investors after the AMF's prohibition order.","source":"Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF)","source_url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/en/general-public/media-centre/news/fiche-dactualites/dossier-plexcoin-dominic-lacroix-et-dl-innov-inc-coupables-doutrage-au-tribunal","date_evidence":"On October 17, 2017, further to a request from the Autorité des marchés financiers (the \"AMF\"), the Honourable Justice Marc Lesage of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Québec, found Dominic Lacroix and DL Innov inc. guilty of contempt of court proceedings."},{"date":"2017-12-04","event":"SEC announces emergency action and fraud charges against PlexCorps, Dominic Lacroix, and Sabrina Paradis-Royer, the first case filed by its new Cyber Unit.","source":"SEC Press Release 2017-219","source_url":"https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2017-219","date_evidence":"Washington D.C., Dec. 4, 2017 —"},{"date":"2017-12-08","event":"Justice Marc Lesage sentences Dominic Lacroix and DL Innov inc. to two months in prison and $110,000 in combined fines for contempt of court.","source":"FinanceFeeds","source_url":"https://financefeeds.com/quebec-court-issues-prison-sentence-head-virtual-coin-scam-plexcoin/","date_evidence":"The Honorable Judge Marc Lesage of the Superior Court of Quebec today [sentenced Lacroix and DL Innov to prison]; article published December 8, 2017."},{"date":"2019-10-02","event":"Final judgment entered against PlexCorps, Dominic Lacroix, and Sabrina Paradis-Royer, requiring disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties totaling roughly $6.9 million.","source":"SEC Litigation Release No. 24635","source_url":"http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr-24635","date_evidence":"Litigation Release No. 24635 (dated \"October 2, 2019\")"},{"date":"2020-07","event":"A federal grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio indicts Dominic Lacroix, Yan Ouellet, and Sabrina Paradis-Royer on charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.","source":"The Block","source_url":"https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2020-07-26-doj-plexcoin-ico-fraud-72921"}],"sources_used":[{"url":"https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2017-219","name":"SEC Press Release 2017-219: SEC Emergency Action Halts ICO Scam","type":"regulatory","archive_url":null,"credibility":1,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr-24635","name":"SEC Litigation Release No. 24635: PlexCorps, Dominic Lacroix, and Sabrina Paradis-Royer","type":"regulatory","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20261008055510/https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-24635","credibility":1,"archive_timestamp":"2026-10-08T05:55:10+00:00"},{"url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/en/general-public/media-centre/news/fiche-dactualites/dossier-plexcoin-dominic-lacroix-et-dl-innov-inc-coupables-doutrage-au-tribunal","name":"Autorité des marchés financiers: PlexCoin - Dominic Lacroix and DL Innov inc. guilty of contempt of court proceedings","type":"regulatory","archive_url":null,"credibility":1,"archive_error":"error:no-request","archive_status":"unarchivable","archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/sec-settles-lawsuit-against-plexcoin-ico-for-7-million/","name":"SEC Settles Lawsuit against PlexCoin ICO for $7 Million","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20261008091808/https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/sec-settles-lawsuit-against-plexcoin-ico-for-7-million/","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-10-08T09:18:08+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2017/12/125400-sec-emergency-action-halts-plexcoin-ico-scam-first-charges-filed-new-sec-cyber-unit/","name":"SEC's Cyber Unit Files Fraud Charges Relating to PlexCoin ICO / SEC Emergency Action Halts PlexCoin ICO Scam","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20261008060041/https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2017/12/125400-sec-emergency-action-halts-plexcoin-ico-scam-first-charges-filed-new-sec-cyber-unit/","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-10-08T06:00:41+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2020-07-26-doj-plexcoin-ico-fraud-72921","name":"Department of Justice unveils fraud charges against three people involved in PlexCoin ICO","type":"news_article","archive_url":null,"credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://financefeeds.com/federal-grand-jury-indicts-trio-behind-phony-cryptocurrency-plexcoin/","name":"Federal grand jury indicts trio behind phony cryptocurrency PlexCoin","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20261008051914/https://financefeeds.com/federal-grand-jury-indicts-trio-behind-phony-cryptocurrency-plexcoin/","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-10-08T05:19:14+00:00"},{"url":"https://financefeeds.com/quebec-court-issues-prison-sentence-head-virtual-coin-scam-plexcoin/","name":"Quebec Court issues prison sentence to head of virtual coin scam PlexCoin","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20261008054721/https://financefeeds.com/quebec-court-issues-prison-sentence-head-virtual-coin-scam-plexcoin/","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-10-08T05:47:21+00:00"}],"source_tags":[],"addresses":[],"reviewed":false,"reviewed_by":null,"model_used":"claude-code-investigator","created_at":"2026-10-08T04:23:15.110294+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-08T09:45:16.461635+00:00"},"source_quality":{"total":8,"tier1":2,"tier2":1,"tier3":0,"unrated":5},"follower_count":null}