SEC v. Edward E. Matthes (2020)

Settled

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In January 2020 the SEC charged former Wisconsin broker Edward Matthes with defrauding 26 mostly elderly customers of about $2.4 million through a non-existent investment promising 4% and unauthorized annuity withdrawals. He consented to an injunction, with monetary relief to be set by the court.

The record

Structured fields for this action, as recorded in our case library.
Agency	SEC
Release number	LR-24726
Date filed	2020-01-28
Date resolved	2020-01-28
Status	settled
Criminal parallel	No
Defendants	Edward E. Matthes (individual)
Cited as charged or alleged	Advisers Act s.206 ; Exchange Act s.10(b) and Rule 10b-5 ; Securities Act s.17(a) (statutes and rules cited in the document; not a finding that they were violated)
Techniques

What was ordered

Civil penalty: —
Disgorgement: —
Prejudgment interest: —
Total relief: —
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 SEC announced the case on January 28, 2020 (LR-24726) in the Eastern District of Wisconsin. He allegedly stole about $1.4 million for personal use and another $1 million from annuities, hiding it with fake statements and about $170,000 of Ponzi-like payments. Disgorgement, interest and penalties are to be determined later.

The record showed a judgment; the court had not yet set any amount, so the matter is settled. The Ponzi tag is removed because the release describes theft from customers with Ponzi-like payments as a cover-up detail.

Timeline

2020-01-28 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.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.