SEC v. Syed Arham Arbab, Tomas Javier Jimenez, Blake Douglas McKinney, Mushfiqur Rahman, John Ryan Shows, and William Carl Spagnoli (2022)

Settled

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In November 2022 the SEC sued six individuals in the Northern District of Georgia. Final judgments were entered against Jimenez, McKinney and Shows on February 23, 2023, Spagnoli on March 9, 2023, and Arbab and Rahman on September 11, 2024. Civil penalties total $165,000.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$165k

Disgorgement

$72k

Prejudgment interest

$7.2k

Total relief

$244k

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 alleges that from May 2019 to January 2021 the defendants deposited funds from empty or underfunded accounts to obtain over $1.5 million of instant credit and make unfunded trades, and that Arbab, who was about to begin a prison term for another scheme, directed some of it. It charges violations of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5. Jimenez, McKinney and Shows consented to judgments, subject to court approval, with penalties and, for two of them, disgorgement.

The record showed the matter as settled, which overstated it: three of six had consented.

No technique tag is applied. The Ponzi scheme the release mentions is Arbab's earlier, separate 2019 case, which is recorded separately; this scheme is freeriding, not a Ponzi scheme.

Outcome. Final judgments in N.D. Ga. No. 1:22-cv-04321 resolve all six defendants, each reciting consent: Tomas Jimenez (February 23, 2023: disgorgement $8,064.74, interest $566.84, penalty $25,000), Blake McKinney (February 23, 2023: penalty $25,000), John Shows (February 23, 2023: $28,001.05, $1,947.69, $15,000), William Spagnoli (March 9, 2023: $2,792.72, $206.40, $25,000), Syed Arbab (September 11, 2024: penalty $50,000, in addition to disgorgement and interest of $7,824.11 ordered earlier) and Mushfiqur Rahman (September 11, 2024: $33,147.71, $4,480.60, $25,000). The recorded totals sum the separately stated figures; Arbab's earlier combined $7,824.11 is not split in the document and is left out of the disgorgement and interest totals. The final date is the last judgment. The conduct alleged was never found by the court in these consent judgments.

Timeline

1. 2022-11-01 Litigation release published
2. 2023-02-23 Final judgments entered against Jimenez, McKinney and Shows
3. 2023-03-09 Final judgment entered against Spagnoli
4. 2024-09-11 Final judgments entered against Arbab and Rahman

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, Tomas Javier Jimenez (N.D. Ga.)
• Final judgment, Blake Douglas McKinney (N.D. Ga.)
• Final judgment, John Ryan Shows (N.D. Ga.)
• Final judgment, William Carl Spagnoli (N.D. Ga.)
• Final judgment, Syed Arham Arbab (N.D. Ga.)
• Final judgment, Mushfiqur Rahman (N.D. Ga.)

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.