SEC v. Edward Lee Moody Jr., et. al. (ponzi schemes, 2018)

Settled

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In June 2018 the SEC charged Virginia adviser Edward Moody Jr. and his firm CM Capital Management with a Ponzi scheme of nearly $5 million. On 13 June 2019 the Eastern District of Virginia entered a settled judgment against Moody and a default judgment against the firm, with $3,025,067 disgorgement and interest deemed satisfied by criminal orders.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

—

Disgorgement

$3m

Prejudgment interest

$32.2k

Total relief

$3.1m

Alleged gain

$5m

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 July 3, 2018 as release LR-24184. The respondents named are Edward Lee Moody Jr., et. al. (1 individual, 0 entities). The action was brought in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia.

This library tags the matter as ponzi schemes, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

A later SEC litigation release shows the case concluded. On 13 June 2019 the court entered a settled final judgment against Moody and a default final judgment against CM Capital, both permanently enjoining them from antifraud violations under the securities and advisers laws. Moody agreed to disgorgement of $3,025,067 and prejudgment interest of $32,181, deemed satisfied by the forfeiture and restitution orders in his criminal case, where he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 13 years, recorded here as 156 months. In a related administrative proceeding he consented to a permanent bar from the securities industry. The release gives no civil penalty and no separate figure for the default judgment against the firm.

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. 2018-07-03 Litigation release published
2. 2019-06-13 Settled judgment against Moody and default judgment against CM Capital; SEC says the litigation is 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 LR-24508 (final judgments)

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.