Category Archives: SEC

Oct. 3, 2019 Good afternoon. I am very excited to join you today to discuss ways to combat elder investor financial exploitation and fraud. This is a topic that I know everyone in this room (and those watching via the web) care deeply about and so I am truly grateful that we are able to […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it has obtained a final judgment against the proprietors of the PlexCoin Initial Coin Offering (ICO), who consented to a judgment enjoining them from future violations of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and ordering them to pay nearly $7 million. According to the SEC’s complaint, […]

Washington D.C., Sept. 30, 2019 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against blockchain technology company Block.one for conducting an unregistered initial coin offering of digital tokens (ICO) that raised the equivalent of several billion dollars over approximately one year.  The company agreed to settle the charges by paying a $24 million […]

Litigation Release No. 24632 / September 30, 2019 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Bluepoint Investment Counsel, et al., Civil Action No. 19-cv-00809 (W.D. Wisc. filed September 30, 2019) On September 30, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Bluepoint Investment Counsel, LLC, Michael Hull, Christopher Nohl, Greenpoint Asset Management II, LLC, and Chrysalis Financial LLC […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged internet marketing business partners Peter Szatmari and David Sechovicz with allegedly creating and disseminating elaborate rags-to-riches videos to trick vulnerable retirees and other Main Street investors into opening brokerage accounts and trading securities known as binary options. According to the SEC’s complaints, filed in federal district court in Boston, […]

Litigation Release No. 24630 / September 30, 2019 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Gil Beserglik, et al., No. 2:19-cv-08334 (C.D. Cal. filed September 26, 2019) On September 26, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged three foreign individuals, Gil Beserglik, Raz Beserglik and Kai Christian Petersen, with deceiving U.S. investors, including vulnerable retirees, and causing […]

Washington D.C., Sept. 30, 2019 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged SBB Research Group, LLC, a Chicago-area hedge fund adviser and its two top executives with a multi-year fraud that inflated fund values. According to the SEC’s complaint, SBB Chief Executive Officer Samuel Barnett founded the firm in 2010 while still in college, […]

Litigation Release No. 24629 / September 30, 2019 Securities and Exchange Commission v. James T. Booth, Civil Action No. 19-cv-1535 (D. Conn. filed September 30, 2019) The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Connecticut man with operating a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme that bilked over three dozen retail investors, including senior citizens saving for […]

Litigation Release No. 24628 / September 30, 2019 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Marcus Beam, No. 19-cv-6458 (N.D. Il. filed September 30, 2019) The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against an Illinois investment adviser for stealing more than $200,000 from his clients. The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed charges in federal court in Denver against an individual and six companies he controls for perpetrating a multimillion-dollar fraudulent “cattle-flipping” investment scheme. The SEC also charged two individuals for aiding and abetting their scheme. The Commission’s complaint alleges that Mark Ray, a Denver resident, was the mastermind of […]