Tether’s Ex-Auditor Charged by SEC For Violation of Laws

• SEC charged $1 million against Tether’s former auditor.
• Tether requested to submit the required documents on USDT backing.

According to an order released on Monday, the popular stablecoin issuer Tether’s ex-auditor has been fined $1 million by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In 2017, Friedman LLP, a New York-based accounting company, provided service to Tether. The company has engaged in inappropriate professional conduct and severe violations of federal securities laws, as per the security commission. 

The report about Friedman LLP comes after the stablecoin issuer Tether was requested to provide the USDT backing. Allegations that the Tether (USDT) network released USDT to falsely raise the price of Bitcoin (BTC) led to legal action being brought against Tether. Tether has committed to providing all required documents.

SEC Vs Friedman LLP

The SEC filed and concluded the allegations against the accounting company last week. SEC disclosed that the auditor had lied while claiming that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s standards were followed in completing its audits.

Following that, Friedman LLP is committed to training its employees on proper auditing methods. The company also has to pay a $1 million civil penalty together with $564,138 in disgorgement and prejudgment fees.

However, Tether is not mentioned in the SEC’s statement, but the stablecoin issuer used the auditing firm’s services from May 2017 to January 2018. Moreover, Tether paid $18.5 million to end a 22-month investigation by the New York attorney general’s office (NYAG) last year. The order claims that Tether attempted to hide the loss of $850 million in user and company cash.