SEC v. James P. Kolf (2017)
Settled
Checked against the primary document on October 3, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.
In November 2017 the SEC barred Wisconsin broker James P. Kolf from the securities industry by settled follow-on order, after a 2016 Wisconsin consent order found he spent about $905,000 that 14 customers invested in a fictitious company.
The record
| Agency | SEC |
|---|---|
| Release number | 3-18274 |
| Date filed | 2017-11-03 |
| Date resolved | 2017-11-03 |
| Status | settled |
| Asset class | bonds, equities |
| Criminal parallel | No |
| Bars imposed | registration bar |
| Defendants | James P. Kolf |
| Techniques |
What was ordered
- Civil penalty
- —
- Disgorgement
- —
- Prejudgment interest
- —
- Total relief
- —
- Alleged gain
- —
What is alleged to have happened
The Wisconsin order found that from May 2011 to February 2016 Kolf promised returns of six to eight percent through a company called SFN Financial that did not exist, spent the money on a house, credit card debt and a tax liability, and gave falsified statements. About $47,572 of it went to investors as Ponzi-like payments.
Those payments are a small part of a misappropriation case, so the ponzi-schemes tag has been removed. The SEC order imposes bars and no money.
Timeline
Primary documents
Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.