The
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission’s
Salt
Lake
City
office
–
notorious
in
the
crypto
world
for
its
failed
fraud
lawsuit
against
DEBT
Box
–
will
shut
down
after
seeing
“significant
attrition”
among
its
staff,
some
of
whom
were
pushed
out
over
the
case.
SEC
lawyers
Michael
Welsh
and
Joseph
Watkins
resigned
in
April
after
a
federal
judge
sanctioned
them
for
committing
a
“gross
abuse
of
power”
in
seeking
to
freeze
the
assets
of
Utah-based
crypto
company
DEBT
Box
on
misleading
grounds.
Just
last
week
the
judge
dismissed
that
case
and
ordered
the
SEC
to
pay
DEBT
Box
$1.8
million
in
legal
fees.
“The
agency
considered
its
budget
and
organizational
efficiency
in
deciding
to
close
the
office,
and
it
has
no
plans
to
close
any
other
regional
offices,”
said
a
press
release.
The
regulator’s
Denver
office
will
take
over
any
enforcement
jurisdiction,
the
SEC
said.
