SEC v. Frederic Elm and Elm Tree Investment Advisors (ponzi schemes, 2015)

Settled

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In January 2015 the SEC sued Fort Lauderdale adviser Frederic Elm, formerly Elmaleh, his firm Elm Tree Investment Advisors and three funds in the Southern District of Florida, alleging they raised more than $17 million and used most of it for Ponzi-like payments to investors. Elm consented to an injunction in March 2015 and to a final judgment signed April 11, 2016 setting disgorgement of $4,681,867, interest of $154,301 and a $160,000 penalty.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$160k

Disgorgement

$4.7m

Prejudgment interest

$154k

Total relief

$5m

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 complaint, filed January 15, 2015, alleges that since November 2013 the defendants misled investors and spent money on a $1.75 million home, cars and jewelry; it names Amanda Elm as a relief defendant. The court granted a temporary restraining order and asset freeze on January 16 and appointed a receiver.

The record had carried the lead defendant as a single string ending "et al."

This library tags the matter as ponzi schemes because the document describes payments to earlier participants made from later participants' money. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

Outcome. The final judgment against Elm on the docket of the Southern District of Florida (Judge Dimitrouleas, entered April 12, 2016, signed April 11) follows a consent injunction entered March 25, 2015. Elm consented without admitting or denying, except that the allegations are treated as true for bankruptcy-discharge purposes. The judgment makes him liable for disgorgement of $4,681,867 and prejudgment interest of $154,301 and a civil penalty of $160,000. Of the disgorgement and interest, $868,207 and $28,614 are joint and several with relief defendant Amanda Elm, and the judgment deems those joint amounts satisfied by the receiver's recoveries, leaving Elm owing $3,813,660 in disgorgement and $125,687 in interest, to be reduced by any further receiver recoveries. This outcome covers Frederic Elm only: the judgments against the firm, the funds and the relief defendant are separate and were not opened.

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. 2015-01-21 Litigation release published
2. 2016-04-11 Final consent judgment against Frederic Elm: disgorgement, interest and $160,000 penalty (docketed April 12)

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
• Final judgment as to Frederic Elm (S.D. Fla. 15-cv-60082, DE 152)

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.