The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed suit against Heart in August 2023, claiming he committed fraud by raising more than $USD1 billion through unregistered cryptocurrency offerings.
More than $USD12 million was allegedly spent on luxury assets, including the Enigma diamond, a 555-carat black diamond believed to originate from space.
Federal judge Carol Bagley Amon dismissed the SEC’s case, stating that it failed to prove that these actions had occurred in the US. Heart is a US citizen living in Finland.
“To satisfy the conduct and effects test, the SEC must show ‘conduct within the United States that constitutes significant steps in furtherance of the violation,’ or ‘conduct occurring outside the United States that has a foreseeable substantial effect within the United States,’” Amon wrote in the filing.
“Here, the SEC fails to allege sufficient facts that place Heart’s conduct within the United States. As such, I cannot reasonably infer that Heart’s conduct was ‘conduct within the United States.’”
The diamond was purchased at a Sotheby’s auction in February 2022. It is classified as a carbonado diamond and was sold for £3.2 million ($AU6.23 million).
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