USSEC SUED $22 MILLION FOR A SECRET MINING SCAM INVOLVING OVER 380 INVESTORS

On 21 July, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a lawsuit against Zan Shaikh, a resident of Florida, and his company Mining Automatic, alleging that they had collected approximately $22 million from more than 380 investors through a falsely encrypted mining investment plan and suspected of misappropriation of investors ' funds. The SEC noted that between June 2023 and May 2025, the defendant promised that investors could secure monthly revenues through the encryption of mines, but that only about 13 per cent of the collection funds were actually spent on so-called mining operations, with the remainder being used mainly for marketing, attracting new investors and paying for personal and other unrelated business expenses. SEC claims that the defendant raised funds at least $20 million more than the amount returned to investors. The SEC has charged him with alleged violations of anti-fraud and securities issuance provisions of the Securities Act 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act 1934. The parties have agreed to accept the permanent injunction upon approval by the court, and the subsequent return of the illegal proceeds, interest and the amount of the civil fine will be determined by the court。