SEC Sues Linqto Founder Over $430 Million Pre-IPO Fraud. His Ex-Partner Already Pleaded Guilty.
What happened. On October 9, 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued William Sarris, founder of pre-IPO investment platform Linqto, and former executive Joseph Endoso, accusing them of defrauding retail investors out of more than $430 million. The SEC says a Linqto subsidiary sold special-purpose-vehicle shares in private "unicorn" companies — including Ripple, Circle and Kraken — while telling investors prices reflected fair market value, when in reality almost every offering was priced above it. Investors were also told that some shares were "sold out" or "fully subscribed" when more remained available, and that prices moved automatically by algorithm, when Linqto staff set them by hand. A separate federal indictment, unsealed in September 2026, alleges the scheme ran from 2020 to 2025, pulled in over $450 million from more than 13,000 customers, and in some cases marked up shares by more than 200%.
The split response. Endoso pleaded guilty on August 27, 2026, to securities fraud, broker-dealer fraud and conspiracy charges, and is now cooperating with prosecutors. Sarris has taken the opposite path: through his attorney, he says he is "innocent of these charges and intends to fight them," arguing that Linqto's bankruptcy — filed in July 2025, six months after he stopped running the company — is the real source of investors' losses, not the investments themselves.
Three takeaways for founders and executives:
- A platform's own pricing claims are a legal liability, not just marketing — "market price," "sold out" and "algorithmic" all became specific allegations in the SEC's complaint.
- Cooperating early narrows the legal and reputational exposure: Endoso's guilty plea closed his case months before the civil suit was even filed, while Sarris now fights SEC and DOJ actions simultaneously.
- A bankruptcy filing doesn't end the story — regulators kept building the case against Linqto's founders more than a year after the company itself collapsed.
Sources: U.S. SEC, Washington Times, Business Recorder
When founders and executives split this sharply over how to respond to fraud allegations, the difference shows up directly in the legal outcome and in what's left of the company's name. If your business is navigating a reputational or regulatory crisis, CGS.GURU can help you build a response before regulators — or the market — write the story for you.
