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Floyd Mayweather Jr. Charged with Fraud, Fined Over $600,000

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“Money Mayweather” has run into some money problems.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been charged with cryptocurrency fraud after he allegedly failed to disclose that he was paid for promoting investments in initial coin offerings, CBS News reported.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said the boxer did not report that he received $300,000 from three separate deals that paid him to promote the ICOs online.

One of his promotions came via Twitter and linked to a Facebook post that has since been deleted:

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Mayweather has settled with the SEC and is cooperating with the ongoing investigation. He agreed to pay a $300,000 penalty, give up another $300,000 and fork over $14,775 in interest for a total of $614,775.

In addition to Mayweather, music producer DJ Khaled was also charged by the SEC for promoting ICOs.

Because they did not disclose the payments, “Mayweather and Khaled’s ICO promotions may have appeared to be unbiased, rather than paid endorsements,” said Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC’s enforcement division.

Do you think Floyd Mayweather will ever box again?

Kelly Swanson, who is a publicist for Mayweather, said he likely wouldn’t commit on the situation.

Mayweather sports a 50-0 boxing record and is the sport’s first and only billion-dollar fighter, according to Forbes.

Additionally, he was named by Forbes as the highest-paid celebrity, sports or not, in its 2018 list of the world’s highest-paid entertainers.

The total revenue from Mayweather’s pay-per-view fights has generated over $1.6 billion in the United States alone, and he made over $300 million in his last fight against Conor McGregor.

He hasn’t fought since then, although he has agreed to an exhibition match with undefeated kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa at Rizin 14 on Dec. 31.

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The bout will be under unspecified rules and will take place in Saitama, Japan. Mayweather didn’t hide the fact that there might not be much action in the fight and he’s there for the paycheck.

“I’m moving around with the guy for nine minutes, and of course it’s going to be the highest-paid exhibition ever,” he told TMZ Sports.

“It’s a no-brainer. Just because I’m retired from boxing, I still make appearances worldwide and make a ton of money.”

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Ross Kelly has been a sportswriter since 2009.
Ross Kelly has been a sportswriter since 2009 and previously worked for ESPN, CBS and STATS Inc. A native of Louisiana, Ross now resides in Houston.
Location
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Sports




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