Lawyer Puzzled by SEC’s Action Against Barlinghouse and Larsen

• Bill Morgan has expressed his curiosity over the SEC’s suit against Barlinghouse and Larsen.
• Barlinghouse and Larsen were not mentioned among those monitored by the US regulator.
• Nerayoff’s testimony contains plenty of information for those who would pay attention.

Bill Morgan, a lawyer and digital assets enthusiast, has expressed his curiosity over the SEC’s suit against Brad Barlinghouse and Chris Larsen, alongside Ripple. Morgan cited sections of the Memorandum of Law in support of Steven Nerayoff’s pretrial motion. He noted that unlike Vitalik Buterin, Charles Hoskinson, and several other stakeholders in the crypto industry, Barlinghouse, and Larsen were not mentioned among those monitored by the government.

The Memorandum of Law was filed by Michael Scotto, a former career prosecutor and rackets bureau chief, to dismiss the indictment against Nerayoff, disclose portions of the grand jury proceedings, and compel discovery from the government.

Scotto posted about the filing on X (formerly Twitter), noting that Nerayoff’s testimony contains plenty of information for those who would pay attention. According to Scotto, they used the publicly filed motions to reveal so much about ongoing misconduct by the SEC, the FBI, and the US Department of Justice. He claims the content of their filing led to the prompt dismissal of the case against Nerayoff.

On January 10, 2020, Nerayoff and an employee of his, Michael Hlady, were charged with Hobbs Act Extortion Conspiracy, among other allegations, for extorting money and Ethereum (ETH) from a Seattle-based cryptocurrency business called “Company 1”.

On May 5, 2023, a New York judge dismissed the case against Nerayoff, marking an end to the three-and-a-half-year legal battle. After this, Nerayoff has taken to social media to present his view on how the SEC and the government attempted to co-opt the crypto industry.

In a recent post, the tech entrepreneur also accused Marc Berger, the former Acting Director and Deputy Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, of leading a false prosecution against him. Nerayoff also accused Berger of covertly putting people in the Justice Department and illegally obtaining documents they hid.