SEC v. Adrian J. Kawuba (ponzi schemes, 2022)

Judgment entered

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In November 2022 the SEC sued Adrian Kawuba of Massachusetts over an alleged $2 million Ponzi scheme. On June 28, 2024 the District of Massachusetts entered a final judgment ordering disgorgement of $312,693 and interest of $11,403.44, offset by criminal forfeiture and restitution. In the parallel criminal case he was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

—

Disgorgement

$313k

Prejudgment interest

$11.4k

Total relief

$324k

Alleged gain

—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on November 14, 2022 as release LR-25577. The SEC obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze and alleges that Kawuba raised about $2 million with promised returns of 25% to 50%, paying earlier investors from later money and spending investor funds on travel and luxury goods.

This library tags the matter as a Ponzi scheme because the document describes returns to earlier investors paid from later investors' money, as alleged or found. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

A parallel criminal proceeding is referenced. Civil and criminal outcomes are recorded separately, because they resolve on different standards of proof.

Outcome. SEC Litigation Release 26040 (July 1, 2024) says the court entered a final judgment on June 28, 2024 that enjoins Kawuba under the antifraud provisions and from participating in the offer or sale of securities to investors (except buying or selling registered securities for himself), and orders disgorgement of $312,693 plus prejudgment interest of $11,403.44, offset by amounts ordered in the parallel criminal case. The release says the SEC's litigation is concluded. The release also reports that he pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud in December 2023 and on April 11, 2024 was sentenced to 27 months in prison with three years of supervised release, restitution above $625,000 and forfeiture above $2.2 million. The release does not say whether the civil judgment was by consent.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Ponzi schemes — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2022-11-14 Litigation release published
2. 2024-06-28 Final judgment entered; SEC litigation concluded

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• SEC litigation release
• SEC litigation release 26040 (final judgment)

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Same matter

The library links these 2 records because they appear to concern one matter: the same lead defendant, an overlapping technique tag and close filing dates, or a shared court docket or a release that cites the other. Records are listed by date filed.

This grouping is the library's, made by matching names, techniques, dates and citations when the site is built. It is not the regulator's or a court's determination that the records are one case, and it errs towards missing a link rather than making a false one.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.