Lawyer John Deaton Files Securities Fraud Class Action Lawsuit Against Former Linqto CEO

On July 9th, according to reporter Eleanor Terrett, renowned lawyer John E. Deaton has filed a securities fraud class action lawsuit on behalf of thousands of retail investors against William Sarris, the founder and former CEO of Linqto. The lawsuit alleges that Sarris orchestrated a multi-year fraudulent scheme by selling shares of private companies such as Ripple, Uphold, and Kraken through SPVs (special purpose vehicles) on the Linqto platform, using undisclosed high markups (up to 60.00%), misleading waivers, and unauthorized sales tactics. According to the lawsuit documents, Sarris ignored warnings from internal legal memos in 2023 and 2024, actions that violated multiple SEC and FINRA regulations, including operating as an unregistered broker-dealer and operating an unregistered investment company. Deaton emphasized that this lawsuit is against Sarris personally and is not subject to bankruptcy protection, and he promised that any compensation obtained from liability insurance or settlements will be used to help the affected investors. [Deep Tide TechFlow]