The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States has been ordered by a federal judge to pay around $1.8 million in attorney and receivership fees, leading to the closure of one of its regional offices.
In a notice published on June 4, the SEC announced that it would be shutting down its Salt Lake Regional Office in 2024. This office is one of eleven regional offices across the country. The closure is attributed to a significant decrease in staff at the Salt Lake office, and the SEC plans to relocate its operations to Denver.
This decision comes shortly after Judge Robert Shelby dismissed the SEC’s civil lawsuit against DEBT Box, a company accused of conducting an illegal $50 million cryptocurrency scheme. Additionally, Judge Shelby ordered the SEC to pay approximately $1 million for attorney fees and costs, as well as $750,000 for receiver fees and costs.
The SEC had filed the lawsuit against DEBT Box in July 2023, but in March, Judge Shelby found that the SEC had acted in bad faith regarding a temporary restraining order to freeze DEBT Box’s assets. As a result, the judge imposed sanctions on the SEC, requiring them to cover all attorney fees and costs related to the improperly obtained relief.
It is worth noting that two SEC lawyers, who were based at the Salt Lake Regional Office, reportedly resigned due to their concerns about the handling of the DEBT Box case. It is unclear whether their departure contributed to the significant decrease in staff mentioned by the SEC.
DEBT Box’s chief marketing officer, Miguel Francis-Santiago, commented on the SEC’s decision to close the Salt Lake City office, stating that it was a direct response to the dismissal of the DEBT Box case. He also emphasized the importance of ensuring no misconduct or abuse of power in any future proceedings related to the case.
The SEC is currently pursuing enforcement actions against several cryptocurrency firms, including Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, and Ripple. In May, Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon announced that they had reached a preliminary settlement in their case with the SEC.
Update (June 4 at 9:25 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include a statement from DEBT Box.