SEC v. Jonathan H. Seigel, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019)

Settled

✓ Checked against the primary document on October 4, 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.

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In May 2019 the SEC charged Natural Diamonds, Eagle Financial Diamond Group, Argyle Coin, Jose Aman and Harold and Jonathan Seigel over an alleged $30 million Ponzi scheme and unregistered offerings. A Florida federal court entered a final judgment against Aman on 23 March 2021, on his agreement, with $4,200,000 in disgorgement and $325,033.47 in interest treated as satisfied by criminal restitution and the civil penalty dismissed. Outcomes for the other five defendants were not found.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

—

Disgorgement

$4.2m

Prejudgment interest

$325k

Total relief

$4.5m

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

On May 21, 2019 the SEC announced a complaint, filed May 13 in the Southern District of Florida, against Natural Diamonds Investment Co., Eagle Financial Diamond Group Inc., Argyle Coin, LLC, Jose Angel Aman, Harold Seigel and Jonathan H. Seigel, with a court order halting a $30 million Ponzi scheme aimed at over 300 investors. The complaint charges all of them with violating Securities Act Sections 5(a) and 5(c), and charges Natural Diamonds, Eagle, Argyle Coin and Aman with fraud. The record previously listed 'Jonathan H. Seigel, et al.'.

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

Outcome (Aman only). A final judgment docketed on 23 March 2021 in the Southern District of Florida says Aman agreed to the entry of injunctions, disgorgement and a penalty in amounts the court would set on the SEC's motion. It enjoins him from the antifraud provisions and orders $4,200,000 in disgorgement plus $325,033.47 in interest (total $4,525,033.47), deemed satisfied by the restitution ordered in his parallel criminal case, and dismisses the civil penalty. I found no judgments for Natural Diamonds, Eagle Financial, Argyle Coin or the two Seigels, so the outcome covers Aman alone and the others were not checked. Aman's judgment followed his agreement, so the allegations were not tried civilly.

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

Timeline

1. 2019-05-21 Litigation release published
2. 2021-03-23 Final judgment entered against Jose Aman (disgorgement and interest deemed satisfied by criminal restitution)

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 against Jose Aman (SEC-hosted court filing)

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.