SEC v. Wilson Baston (ponzi schemes, 2023)

Settled

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In June 2023 the SEC charged Wilson Baston, also known as Chanon Gordon, over an alleged real estate Ponzi scheme. A consent final judgment filed March 6, 2025 orders disgorgement of $2,675,000 plus interest of $341,004.60, treated as satisfied by orders in his criminal case.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

—

Disgorgement

$2.7m

Prejudgment interest

$341k

Total relief

$3m

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 June 28, 2023 as release LR-25759. The complaint alleges that Baston, convicted in 2008 of an earlier Ponzi scheme and operating under the alias Chanon Gordon, raised millions through short-term notes for real estate deals and used the money to pay earlier investors and himself. Injunctive relief and bars are sought, not imposed; a parallel criminal case was announced.

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.

A parallel criminal proceeding is referenced. Civil and criminal outcomes are recorded separately, because they resolve on different standards of proof.

The final judgment, filed in the Southern District of New York on March 6, 2025, recites that Baston consented to its entry, waived findings of fact and conclusions of law, and waived appeal. It permanently enjoins him from violating Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 and Section 17(a), and orders disgorgement of $2,675,000 and prejudgment interest of $341,004.60. Those amounts are deemed satisfied by the restitution and forfeiture orders in United States v. Baston, 23 Cr. 303 (S.D.N.Y.).

The document also provides that, for bankruptcy discharge purposes, the complaint's allegations are treated as true as to Baston. It reports no civil penalty and no sentence, and this record does not give the outcome of the criminal case.

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. 2023-06-28 Litigation release published
2. 2025-03-06 Consent final judgment entered

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 as to Wilson Baston

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.