Attorney John E. Deaton has initiated a securities fraud class action lawsuit against William Sarris, founder and former CEO of Linqto, on behalf of thousands of retail investors. The lawsuit accuses Sarris of orchestrating a multi-year scheme involving undisclosed markups up to 60%, misleading exemptions, and unlicensed sales tactics to sell shares in private companies such as Ripple, Uphold, and Kraken through SPVs on Linqto's platform. The filing claims Sarris ignored internal legal warnings in 2023 and 2024 that the offerings violated SEC and FINRA regulations, including operating as an unregistered broker-dealer and managing unregistered investment companies. Deaton emphasizes that the lawsuit targets Sarris personally, bypassing bankruptcy protections, and any recovery from liability insurance or settlements will aim to compensate affected investors.