This article was updated to include the comments of the defendants’ attorney.
A Florida man has filed suit against two Clark County men and their cryptocurrency mining businesses.
Roberto Rubim of Orlando and Orlando-based Orion30 LLC filed the suit in February in Clark County Superior Court against Andrey Kechik, Andrey Taranov and their companies, Crypto LLC and GOGO Technologies, LLC.
The complaint alleges the local men and their companies violated Washington’s securities act, breached their contract, breached their fiduciary duty and violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act.
“Since at least 2021, defendants have been engaged in the solicitation of investors to purchase unregistered securities in the form of ‘fully managed’ cryptocurrency mining packages based in the Pacific Northwest,” reads the complaint.
It goes on to allege that Kechik, Taranov and their companies tout their services as, “‘A better way to invest in Bitcoin’ and promise investors they will receive a rapid return on their investment and earn significant passive income.”
The complaint says that Rubim claims to have been induced to invest more than $800,000 of savings into crypto mining operations, including cash and equipment. According to the complaint, the investments haven’t been repaid.
Rubim’s attorney, John Bender from Seattle-based law firm Corr Cronin LLP, said the case is important not just for Clark County but for investors and operators in Washington’s growing crypto mining industry.
“Our securities laws exist to promote the highest standard of professional ethics by those who offer and sell securities in this state — the law also protects people who invest their hard-earned capital in new opportunities like my clients,” Bender said. “My clients have faith in the judicial process to fairly and fully adjudicate their claims.”
The defendants are being represented by Portland attorney Michael Clark Willes from Tonkon Torp LLP. Willes did not immediately return requests for comment.
Willes maintains that his clients deny having engaged in any wrongdoing.
“They will be filing counterclaims and fully expect to prevail against Mr. Rubim,” he added.
One motion document filed by the defendants states, “All was well while Mr. Rubim was making money, but when the cryptocurrency markets tanked, he filed this action.”
The complaint argues the Clark County men and their companies have not registered with the state to sell securities.
The complaint also alleges that the crypto mining companies “promise investors significant passive returns on their investment,” quoting the companies as saying they will “guarantee not only your return of investment, but substantial recurring profits.”
The complaint says the defendants promised Rubim it would take 10 months to earn back the entirety of his investment and begin getting passive profits.
It continued to state Rubim ended up earning “nowhere near 100 percent” of his money back in the months following that initial profitability promise.
