Ryan Maasen has told a Judge the SEC’s BitConnect case against him is “ruining his life”.

I first saw the statement reported by Inner City Press, who covered an August 11th case hearing.

One of the individual defendants called in and said, This is ruining my life.

He begged Judge Koeltl to dismiss the case against him. It didn’t happen. Instead, there will be a referral to the NYLAG.

Inner City Press didn’t name the defendant in question.

The SEC’s BitConnect case came up for update today on my own case calendar. Upon checking the case docket, I was able to identify Maasen having made the claim.

On August 13th Judge Koetl made the following order;

As discussed at the August 12, 2021 conference, the pro se defendant Ryan Maasen may seek legal advice and assistance from the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG).

Last we checked in, Maasen (right) had reached a settlement with the SEC for $477,408, plus $38,550 in interest and a $10,000 civil penalty.

Whether Maasen was specifically referring to the settlement ruining his life, or being held accountable for causing widespread financial destruction among his “Rhyno M” victims, is unclear.

What I can report is that on August 12th, final judgement were entered against defendants Joshua Jeppesen and Laura Mascola. Partial judgment was entered against Michael Noble.

We covered their respective settlements along with Maasen’s on July 9th.

Conspicuously absent is a final judgment against Maasen.

Not sure what the hold up is with Maasen’s settlement but perhaps he’s having second thoughts.

When BitConnect collapsed Maasen, who we now know stole almost half a million from his victims, claimed he wasn’t liable because he was “a child of god”.

Perhaps that defense isn’t going down well with the SEC, prompting Maasen to finally seek legal advice.

Also conspicuously absent is any updates regarding defendants Trevon James and Craig Grant.

Grant is believed to have abandoned his partner and fled the US for Jamaica sometime in July.

Trevon James continues to promote shitcoin schemes to paid YouTube channel members.

 

 

Update 16th October 2021 – On October 6th the SEC filed a proposed judgment against Maasen, stipulating he pay back the settlement amount detailed in this article.

The court hasn’t yet approved the proposed judgment. A hearing has been scheduled for October 18th so I’ll check back next week.