Pavel Durov will interrogate in the SEC case against Telegram

Pavel Durov, processed photos from his Instagram

The founder of Telegram Pavel Durov and the vice-president of the company Ilya Perekopsky in early January should testify under the oath of the US Commission for Securities and Exchange against Telegram, writes Coindesk with reference to the court decision.

Details

Durov’s survey will take place on January 7 or 8, 2020-a month before representatives of Telegram and SEC will meet in court, follows from the decision of the district judge Kevin Castel in the New York district court. Durov will testify in the presence of a judicial reporter, which can also be conducted as a video. The place for this will be predetermined by the parties, the document says.
In addition to Durov, the court plans to interrogate Telegram Vice President Ilya Perekopsky, who, according to the publication, was responsible for contact with investors during the ICO. It is heard on December 16 in London.
Sham Parech, an employee of Telegram, whose name appeared in the letters of the company investors, was also invited to the testimony, one of the investors told Coindesk. They will talk to him on December 10 in London.

Context. Telegram planned to launch the Ton blockchain platform and the GRAM cryptocurrency until October 31, 2019. The Bell said in early October that on October 2, the Telegram team sent a letter to investors, which said that the Ton blockchain would be launched on time. However, the launch had to be postponed at least until the spring of 2020 due to the claims of the regulator. They come down to the following:

In the lawsuit , which the SEC filed in the Manhattan district court, it is argued that two companies, allegedly related to the blockchain of the Durov brothers, illegally sold tokens (we are talking about Telegram Group Inc. and its 100%“daughter” Ton Issuer Inc.). The American regulator believes that Durov sold to investors precisely securities, but did not submit a registration application and thereby violated the US securities law.
SEC believes that both the investment contracts for the purchase of GRAM cryptocurrencies and GRAM themselves relate to securities, not currency - simply because nothing can be bought for them. The lawsuit states that no Ton ecosystem, inside which goods or services would be sold for GRAM. And even if such an ecosystem appears from day to day - for example, in the form of Ton blockchain services, by the time of launch and in the foreseeable future there will be no services for billions of dollars in it.

Telegram demanded in early November from the court to the USA to reject the claim of the securities and exchanges commission (SEC) and pay the company compensation, which the court would consider fair.