SEC to Analyze Ripple Executives’ Bank Records

The SEC has issued legal notices to obtain bank records of Ripple’s chairman Christian Larsen and CEO Garlinghouse, the two executives named as defendants in the ongoing lawsuit against the company.

To further its investigation in the case, the SEC has sent subpoenas to six different banks to request personal bank records of the individual defendants from the last eight years. The lawsuit alleges Ripple sold unregistered securities, and the two defendants profited $600 million by abetting illegitimate XRP sales.

In response, on Mar. 11, Ripple wrote a letter to the federal judge to block the subpoenas. Further, the lawyers representing Ripple wrote that seeking sensitive personal banking data is “wholly inappropriate overreach.”

They added that the information that the SEC is requesting is not relevant because it is a “non-fraud” court case, and Ripple had already agreed to provide all relevant data per the allegations.

“This is not a fraud case. There are also no allegations that the Individual Defendants’ personal finances were intermingled with those of Ripple Labs Inc,” the company lawyers said in the letter.

Despite Ripple’s issue with the subpoenas, the SEC is determined to acquire the personal banking details of defendants who led XRP sales over the years.

SEC Attorney said in a separate letter to Ripple counsel that the agency could not thoroughly investigate XRP sales without having all the information. Here, the SEC attorney wrote they needed bank records of the individual defendants as well.

Under the Bank Secrecy Act, US federal agencies are authorized to acquire personal bank records to help support criminal and regulatory investigations.

As such, the personal financial information may help provide more evidence to support the agency’s allegations against Ripple and its top executives.

Disclosure: The author does not hold the cryptocurrency mentioned in this article at the time of publication.