SEC v. Vy Pham

On October 9, 2024, the SEC filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts against Vy Pham, a California resident and crypto promoter, for fraud, market manipulation, and unregistered securities offerings involving Saitama Inu and Robo Inu tokens, deemed securities. From June to July 2021, Pham participated in the Saitama project, selling ~$69,500 of Saitama and engaging in coordinated purchases with other leaders to manipulate its price and volume, inducing sales by large holders (“whales”) and attracting new investors, increasing the price by ~60% over two days. After leaving Saitama in summer 2021, Pham launched Robo Inu in November 2021, promising wealth through a fintech ecosystem. From February 2022 to June 2023, she hired Gotbit Consulting LLC for $3,000–$6,000 monthly to artificially inflate Robo Inu’s trading volume (e.g., to $1M+ daily on Bitmart and Uniswap) via wash trading, creating a false impression of market interest. Pham also planned further price manipulation in February 2024, halted by law enforcement. The SEC alleges violations of Securities Act Sections 5(a), 5(c), 17(a)(1), 17(a)(3) and Exchange Act Sections 9(a)(2), 10(b), and Rules 10b-5(a), (c). Pham consented to a bifurcated settlement (pending court approval), including permanent injunctions, a conduct-based injunction, and an officer-and-director bar, with disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties to be determined. A parallel criminal action by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts is noted. The case is ongoing as of May 20, 2025, awaiting court approval of the settlement.