SEC v. Terrence Chalk (ponzi schemes, 2026)

Judgment entered

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In April 2026 the SEC announced a judgment against Terrence Chalk. On 15 April 2026 a final consent judgment was entered against Chalk, who held himself out as an adviser, ordering $1,731,423 in disgorgement and $13,079 in interest, deemed satisfied by his criminal restitution order. The complaint alleged a Ponzi-like fraud raising about $5 million from about 40 investors.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

—

Disgorgement

$1.7m

Prejudgment interest

$13.1k

Total relief

$1.7m

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 April 27, 2026 as release LR-26540. On 15 April 2026 a final consent judgment was entered against Chalk, who held himself out as an adviser, ordering $1,731,423 in disgorgement and $13,079 in interest, deemed satisfied by his criminal restitution order. The complaint alleged a Ponzi-like fraud raising about $5 million from about 40 investors.

This library tags the matter as a Ponzi scheme because the document describes returns to earlier investors paid from later investors' money, as alleged or found. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

The relief recorded in our data is disgorgement of $1,731,423, prejudgment interest of $13,079, as the release or order states it. 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.

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. 2026-04-27 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.

Same matter

The library links these 2 records because they appear to concern one matter: the same lead defendant, an overlapping technique tag and close filing dates, or a shared court docket or a release that cites the other. Records are listed by date filed.

This grouping is the library's, made by matching names, techniques, dates and citations when the site is built. It is not the regulator's or a court's determination that the records are one case, and it errs towards missing a link rather than making a false one.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.