Judge supports SEC securities claim in default order in Coinbase insider trading case
Rules for default judgment required the judge to acknowledge the SEC’s full argument.
Judge Tana Lin partially satisfied the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) request for a default judgment against Sameer Ramani, one of the defendants in the case of former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi and co-defendants. At the same time, Lin found that secondary sales of some cryptocurrencies were securities.
The SEC requested a default judgment against Ramani, who appeared to have fled the United States and has not responded to court summonses. Ishan Wahi and his brother Nikhil were charged in July 2022 with insider trading and wire fraud. The trades in question were with tokens that were slated for listing on Coinbase made after Ishan Wahi informed his associates of the cryptocurrency exchange’s plans.
Lin, a judge in the U.S. District Court of Western Washington at Seattle, agreed to the SEC’s demands for permanent injunction against Ramani, as well as civil penalties and disgorgement, but did not agree that the defendant should pay prejudgment interest on the disgorged funds. Nikhil Wahi and Ramani allegedly made $1.5 million on their illegal trades.
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