SEC v. Allen Ross Smith (unregistered distributions, 2015)

Judgment entered

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In 2015 the SEC won summary judgment against Florida lawyer Allen Ross Smith, finding he violated Section 5 and the antifraud provisions as paymaster in an advance-fee scheme, with $39,525 disgorgement, $3,818 interest and a $43,343 penalty.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$43.3k

Disgorgement

$39.5k

Prejudgment interest

$3.8k

Total relief

$86.7k

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

On October 8, 2015 the SEC announced that the District of New Hampshire had granted it summary judgment against Allen Ross Smith, a Florida lawyer who acted as paymaster in an advance-fee scheme built on prime bank transactions. The court found on July 2, 2015 that he violated Securities Act Sections 17(a) and 5 and Exchange Act Section 10(b), including by certifying material for an unregistered offering meant to help USA Springs, Inc. leave bankruptcy. It ordered $39,525 in disgorgement with $3,817.88 in interest, and on October 1, 2015 a $43,342.88 civil penalty. A parallel criminal matter is referenced.

This library tags the matter as unregistered distributions, based on the conduct the document describes. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.

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.

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

Timeline

1. 2015-10-08 Litigation release published

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

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.

Related actions

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

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.