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by Mike Caswell

Minnesota's Chip Rice has asked a federal judge to impose sanctions against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the regulator spent years pursuing a "protracted and arguably vindictive" case against him. Mr. Rice complains that he lost his income and suffered public ridicule as a result of a case that the SEC essentially dropped. As he sees things, the SEC's actions amounted to an abuse of power.

The complaints from Mr. Rice come as part of a case in which the SEC cited him for the improper sale of hundreds of millions of shares in listings that included Grow Solutions Holdings Inc. of Saskatchewan. The SEC said that Mr. Rice illegally unloaded shares over a four-year period, with his sales amounting to unregistered offerings. The scheme generated gains that the SEC calculated to be $13.9-million. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.)

After two years of legal back-and-forth, the SEC won an $11-million judgment against Mr. Rice on Sept. 23, 2024, but he appealed that decision almost immediately. He had previously complained that there was no basis for the charges, as there was nothing illegal about his share sales. He said that his business amounted to buying convertible notes and selling the stock on the market, a practice that was entirely legitimate.

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