[GRAM] – Telegram Founder and CEO Durov Called to Testify in the SEC vs. Telegram Case

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov are scheduled to testify before court on the impending court case by the SEC on the sale of unregistered Gram tokens by his company and another entity in 2018.

According to a court order signed this week by District Judge P. Kevin Castel of the New York Southern District Court, Durov and two other Telegram employees are required to give their depositions on the matter albeit at different times and possibly different locations. Durov is scheduled issue his testimony before a court on January 7th or 8th 2020.

Ilya Perekopsky, Telegram vice-president and Shyam Parekh whose name seemed to appear in all of the letters sent to Gram investors will also make pre-trial appearances before the end of the year. Perekopsky has a court date set for December 16th in a London court while Parekh’s deposition will be taken on December 10th also in London.

Durov’s pre-trial testimony location is unknown as of now since the location will have to be “agreed upon by the parties” according to the court document. This means that both the SEC and representatives of Telegram will agree on the location.

The SEC is accusing Telegram of selling unregistered securities to American investors risking flooding the US markets with Gram tokens. The financial watchdog secured a temporary restraining order in October that successfully derailed the issuance of the Gram tokens to investors that was scheduled for October 31st or sooner.

However, according to Telegram, the Grams sold are not securities and contrary to the SEC claims, the popular messaging service claims to have followed all rules and regulations as it pertains to selling tokens. For instance, the company and its counterpart the TON Issuer registered for the token sale under the Regulation D provision which allows for tokens sales to accredited investors. In addition, Telegram claims the Gram token will be a commodity once it is issued, not a security as labeled by the SEC.

Following the successful acquisition of the restraining order by the SEC against the company, Gram investors voted to have the issuance of the tokens pushed forward to April 2020 and rejected a partial refund on their investment. The SEC and Telegram will be battling it out in a New York court on the 18th and 19th 2020 to determine whether or not Telegram and TON Issuer sold unregistered securities.