Crypto firm Helio Lending gets bond sentence over false license claims
Australia-based crypto lender Helio Lending has been sentenced to a non-conviction good behavior bond for a year for falsely claiming it had a local credit license.
On Aug. 17, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said Helio was sentenced to the good-behavior bond for a year, having to pay $9,600 (15,000 Australian dollars) if broken.
Good behavior bonds are often granted for less serious offenses. A non-conviction good behavior bond will mean Helios will only be convicted if it breaks its bond, and will have to pay the $9,600.
ASIC said Helio falsely stated it had an Australian credit license in an August 2019 news article that appeared on its website.
Melbourne-based cryptocurrency lender Helio Lending Pty Ltd has been sentenced to a non-conviction bond for falsely claiming that it held an Australian credit licence when it did not https://t.co/GwrQ5VbRBf pic.twitter.com/gOsHHp02xL
Helio pleaded guilty which ASIC said was accounted for in the sentencing decision and a charge relating to a false representation of holding a license on Helio’s website was withdrawn.
Helio offered crypto-backed loans and is an Australian subsidiary of the United States-based crypto-focused public holding company Cyios Corporation which also owns the yet-to-launch nonfungible token (NFT) platform Randombly.
ASIC charged Helio in April 2022 over the matter. In a circulating investor update from late 2018, Helio claimed it received the license by buying out Cash Flow Investments and its held license.
Related: Australia’s Bendigo Bank blocks high-risk payments to crypto exchanges
ASIC’s latest win follows other crypto-related suits its launched in recent weeks.
Earlier in August the regulator sued the trading platform
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