The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announces that, on February 13, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted the SEC’s request to enforce a subpoena issued to Dapilinu Dunbar and a subpoena for production of documents and testimony that issued to Corrie Sampson.
According to the SEC filing, Dunbar and Sampson are high-profile backers of a crypto-asset investment program marketed under the brand name “NovaTech.”
If a person or entity refuses to comply with a subpoena issued by SEC enforcement staff pursuant to a formal search warrant, the Commission may file a subpoena enforcement action in federal district court seeking an order compelling compliance.
According to the SEC filing, the SEC is investigating whether certain individuals, including Dunbar and Sampson, violated federal securities laws in connection with offers and sales of interests in NovaTech, a purported cryptocurrency investment scheme marketed to individual investors in the United States and worldwide.
As set forth in the SEC filing, NovaTech uses a multi-level marketing program to recruit investors to its program, and Dunbar and Sampson achieved the second highest and highest rankings, respectively, in the NovaTech multi-level marketing program.
According to the filing, SEC staff served both Dunbar and Sampson with an investigative subpoena requiring the production of certain documents and their mandatory filing. Despite numerous attempts to ensure compliance with the subpoenas, Dunbar failed to produce certain documents in his custody, possession or control responsive to the subpoena, and Sampson failed to produce any documents and appear for depositions.
The SEC’s filing sought a court order directing Dunbar and Sampson to fully comply with the subpoenas. The court granted the SEC’s petition and ordered Dunbar and Sampson to produce documents responsive to the Commission’s subpoena and ordered Sampson to appear for depositions.
The SEC continues its investigative investigation and, to date, has not concluded that any person or entity has violated the federal securities laws.