SEC v. Michael L. LaPenna (2018)

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.

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In September 2018 the Securities and Exchange Commission settled an administrative order with Michael LaPenna, finding he made false statements when promoting another man's investment program. The order imposes disgorgement of $22,500, interest of $584 and a $22,500 penalty.

The record

Structured fields for this action, as recorded in our case library.
Agency	SEC
Release number	3-18787
Date filed	2018-09-19
Date resolved	2018-09-19
Status	settled
Criminal parallel	No
Defendants	Michael L. LaPenna (individual)
Cited as charged or alleged	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: $22.5k
Disgorgement: $22.5k
Prejudgment interest: $584
Total relief: $45.6k
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 Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on September 19, 2018 as release 3-18787. The respondents named are Michael L. LaPenna (1 individual, 0 entities).

The order finds that LaPenna told his clients that their money would be held in escrow and earn a large return, when the money went straight to Leroy Young, who spent it; about $198,000 was raised from 14 investors. The charge is antifraud, under Securities Act Section 17(a) and Rule 10b-5.

This library does not tag the matter to a manipulation technique. The matter is an offering fraud and has no short-selling element; the words "failure to deliver" in it refer to unpaid returns.

The relief recorded in our data is a civil penalty of $22,500, disgorgement of $22,500 and prejudgment interest of $584. Penalty and disgorgement are distinct: disgorgement returns the gain, while the penalty is punitive. We store them separately so that aggregate figures across the library are not double-counted.

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.

Timeline

2018-09-19 Administrative proceeding instituted (cease-and-desist)

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 order

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.