⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Tenth Circuit hears an SEC case involving Daniel Putnam, Jean Paul Ramirez Rico, and two companies tied to Putnam. The SEC accused them of misleading investors through cryptocurrency mining and trading offers and misusing the money raised. They entered consent judgments without admitting or denying the complaint, but agreed its allegations could be treated as true when the court decided monetary relief. A Utah federal judge ordered disgorgement—surrender of gains linked to wrongdoing—and civil penalties. The calculation included about seven million dollars in 'other deposits' that an SEC expert could not match to particular investors. Putnam and Ramirez Rico say the SEC did not first show that those deposits came from the alleged fraud; the SEC says the account evidence supported that inference. The panel also examines the need for an evidentiary hearing and the amount of the civil penalties. When counsel says de novo, they mean fresh appellate review of a legal method, rather than deference to the trial judge's calculation of the facts. Michelle Quist of Buchalter will argue first for Putnam and his companies.

SEC v. Putnam, et al. (No. 24-4112) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, argued September 14, 2026.