SEC v. Nathalia I. Burgos, Christian A. Cuesta, Steven A. Fernandez et. al. (ponzi schemes, 2023)

Settled

✓ Checked against the primary document on October 2, 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.

Report an error in this record (sec-nathalia-i-burgos-christian-a-cuesta-steven-a-fernandez-et-al-ponzi-schemes-) by email

In September 2023 the SEC charged four more people for roles in the alleged $196 million MJ Capital Funding Ponzi scheme: Nathalia Burgos, Christian Cuesta, Steven Fernandez and Monica O'Mealia. Fernandez and O'Mealia settled for $755,017 of disgorgement and interest and a $75,000 penalty each.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

—

Disgorgement

$755k

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$755k

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 complaints allege that MJ Capital paid purported returns to existing investors with new investors' money in the manner of a classic Ponzi scheme and that Burgos, with access to the company's accounts, knew or was reckless in not knowing that her statements to investors were false; she also allegedly took about $39,000.

The record had put the combined $755,017 in the interest field.

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

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. 2023-09-22 Litigation release published

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

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.