Market Manipulation. Search

Ponzi schemes enforcement actions

This library records 474 enforcement actions tagged ponzi schemes. A Ponzi scheme pays returns to earlier investors from later investors' money rather than from genuine profits, which is investment fraud with no market involvement and no price to manipulate.

Actions are listed newest first. Each row links to a case page carrying the regulator's own release and, where one was published, the complaint. For how this technique works and what statute it engages, read the ponzi schemes technique page.

Actions
100
Total penalties
$87.3m
Median penalty
$1.5m
Largest
$18.8m
Criminal parallel
49%
Action Agency Filed Penalty Status
SEC v. Mina Tadrus, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-09-08 — settled
OSC v. Derek Scheinman (ponzi schemes, 2023) OSC 2023-09-06 — judgment
SEC v. William V. Conn, Jr. (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-08-31 $100k settled
SEC v. Jose D. Rocha (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-08-03 — settled
SEC v. Mina Tadrus and Tadrus Capital LLC (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-08-02 — settled
SEC v. Brent Seaman, Accanito Holdings, LLC, and others (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-07-28 — judgment
SEC v. Eric J. "EJ" Dalius et al. (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-07-20 $112k judgment
SEC v. Robert D. Christensen, Anthony M. Matic and four entities (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-07-20 $400k judgment
SEC v. Nayeem Choudhury and Dream Venture Capital Group, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-07-12 — filed
CFTC v. Dwight A. Foster and K.E.L. Enterprises, Inc. (ponzi schemes, 2023) CFTC 2023-07-06 $1.6m settled
SEC v. Wilson Baston (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-06-28 — settled
SEC v. Royal Bengal Logistics, Inc. and Sanjay Singh (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-06-26 — judgment
OSC v. April Vuong and Hao Quach (ponzi schemes, 2023) OSC 2023-06-19 — judgment
SEC v. Chimene Van Gundy and others (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-05-31 $6.5m judgment
SEC v. Integrated National Resources, Inc. (WeedGenics), Rolf Max Hirschmann and Patrick Earl Williams (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-05-23 $17.8m judgment
SEC v. Sam A. Antar (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-05-19 — judgment
SEC v. Brian Callahan, Adam Manson and others (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-05-17 — judgment
CFTC v. Tyche Asset Management, LLC and Phillip Galles (ponzi schemes, 2023) CFTC 2023-05-11 — judgment
Former Courtenay House contractor sentenced (ASIC, 2023) ASIC 2023-05-08 — judgment
SEC v. Cedric Dewayne Griffin (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-05-04 — filed
SEC v. Brett M. Bartlett and others (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-05-03 $4m judgment
SEC v. Michael J. French, MJF Holdings, LLC and MJF Capital, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-04-04 $6.2m judgment
SEC v. Surage Kamal Roshan Perera and Janues Capital Incorporated (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-03-29 — settled
SEC v. BKCoin Management, LLC and Kevin Kang (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-03-06 — settled
SEC v. Stephen Keith Woodard, Sr. (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-03-01 $5.9m settled
SEC v. Shawn E. Good (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-02-27 — settled
SEC v. Energy & Environmental Investments, LLC and others (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-02-24 $1m settled
CFTC v. Marcus Todd Brisco, Tin Quoc Tran and others (ponzi schemes, 2023) CFTC 2023-02-23 $350k settled
ASIC brings criminal charges against third individual in relation to Courtenay House (2023) ASIC 2023-02-22 — judgment
CFTC v. Vista Network Technologies and Armen Temurian (ponzi schemes, 2023) CFTC 2023-02-16 — filed
CFTC v. Ramon Salvador Delgado-Gomez, FX Latino and others (ponzi schemes, 2023) CFTC 2023-02-13 — filed
SEC v. Yossi Engel (ponzi schemes, 2023) SEC 2023-01-12 — settled
Former Courtenay House contractor pleads guilty (ASIC, 2022) ASIC 2022-12-14 — judgment
CFTC v. Jeremy Spence (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-12-01 — judgment
SEC v. Adrian J. Kawuba (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-11-14 — judgment
Former Courtenay House director pleads guilty to conducting $180 million Ponzi scheme (ASIC, 2022) ASIC 2022-11-08 — judgment
SEC v. Douver Torres Braga, Joff Paradise, Keleionalani Akana Taylor and Jonathan Tetreault (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-11-04 — filed
SEC v. Kevin B. Merrill, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-10-18 — judgment
CFTC v. Stephen Walsh and Paul Greenwood (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-10-17 — judgment
SEC v. National Realty Investment Advisors LLC, Rey E. Grabato II, Daniel Coley O'Brien, Thomas Nicholas Salzano and others (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-10-14 — filed
SEC v. Mauricio Chavez, Giorgio Benvenuto and CryptoFX, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-10-03 — filed
SEC v. Ari Lauer (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-09-30 — filed
SEC v. Christian J. Gonzalez (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-09-27 — settled
SEC v. Judith Paris-Pinder (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-09-26 — settled
SEC v. James Arthur McDonald, Jr. and Hercules Investments, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-09-22 — judgment
SEC v. Gabriel Edelman, Creative Advancement LLC and Edelman Blockchain Advisors LLC (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-09-15 — judgment
CFTC v. Tae Hung Kang (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-09-08 — judgment
CFTC v. Swapnil Rege and SwapStar Capital LLC (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-09-02 $200k judgment
SEC v. Pavel Ruiz (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-08-30 — settled
SEC v. Vladimir Okhotnikov and others (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-08-01 — filed
SEC v. Alexandra Robert, Chalala Academy LLC (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-07-27 $226k settled
SEC v. Todd Lahr and Thomas Megas (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-07-26 — judgment
SEC v. Matthew Wade Beasley, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-07-01 — filed
SEC v. Justin R. Kimbrough, Terry Nikopoulos and others (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-07-01 — settled
OSC v. Mughal Asset Management Corporation and others (ponzi schemes, 2022) OSC 2022-06-16 — judgment
SEC v. Patrick Churchville, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-06-09 — judgment
SEC v. Wynn Charlebois et al. (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-05-19 — filed
CFTC v. Long Island Resident and His Firm (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-05-13 — filed
CFTC v. Eshaq M. Nawabi, Nawabi Enterprise and Hyperion Consulting Inc. (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-05-10 $4.5m settled
SEC v. Manuel A. Romero (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-05-10 $50k judgment
SEC v. Mark Marchi (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-05-05 — settled
OSC v. Christopher Uitvlugt (ponzi schemes, 2022) OSC 2022-04-27 — judgment
SEC v. American Equities, Inc., American Eagle Mortgage Management, LLC, Ross C. Miles and Maureen T. Wile (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-04-27 — settled
SEC v. Damon Elliott, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-04-15 $5.4m judgment
SEC v. Julie Minuskin, Joshua Stoll, Dennis DiRicco, Tom Casey and Golden Genesis, Inc. (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-04-11 $457k judgment
CFTC v. Danish (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-04-08 $3.6m judgment
CFTC v. Four Operators (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-03-08 — filed
CFTC v. William S. Evans III (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-01-19 — judgment
SEC v. Tanmaya Kabra et al. (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-01-06 — judgment
SEC v. Marco "Sully" Perez and Permian Basin Proppants, Inc. (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-12-22 — settled
ASIC v. Courtenay House (ponzi schemes, 2021) ASIC 2021-11-30 — judgment
SEC v. Guy Scott Griffithe and Robert William Russell (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-11-24 $2.9m judgment
SEC v. BNZ One Capital, LLC, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-10-29 — filed
CFTC v. El Paso Resident and His Firm (ponzi schemes, 2021) CFTC 2021-10-20 $18.8m judgment
SEC v. Steven Pagartanis (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-10-07 — judgment
SEC v. Sky Group, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-09-29 — settled
SEC v. Frantz Simeon and First Black Enterprises, Inc. (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-09-23 — judgment
CFTC v. Gregory Demetrius Bryant, Jr. (ponzi schemes, 2021) CFTC 2021-09-16 — filed
SEC v. Jason Dodd Bullard, Angela Romero-Bullard, and Bullard Enterprises LLC (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-09-16 $230k settled
CFTC v. Rudy Avila and six companies (fraudulent solicitation schemes, 2021) CFTC 2021-09-14 — judgment
SEC v. Todd Elliott Hitt et al. (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-09-10 — judgment
SEC v. Steven Fitzgerald Brown (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-08-31 — judgment
CFTC v. Glen Galemmo (ponzi schemes, 2021) CFTC 2021-08-27 — settled
SEC v. William B. McHenry Jr. and First South Investments, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-08-27 — judgment
SEC v. John J. Woods, Livingston Group Asset Management Company d/b/a Southport Capital, and Horizon Private Equity, III, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-08-25 — settled
SEC v. MJ Capital Funding, LLC, et al, (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-08-13 — judgment
SEC v. Outdoor Capital Partners, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-07-22 — filed
SEC v. Robert Joseph Armijo, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-06-15 $75k settled
SEC v. The Estate of Kenneth J. Casey (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-06-02 — judgment
CFTC v. Cipolla (ponzi schemes, 2021) CFTC 2021-05-14 — judgment
CFTC v. Aaron Michael Scott (ponzi schemes, 2021) CFTC 2021-04-27 — judgment
SEC v. Jonathan P. Maroney, Et. Al (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-04-27 — filed
SEC v. Gregory Altieri (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-04-23 — judgment
CFTC v. unnamed respondents (ponzi schemes, 2021) CFTC 2021-04-08 $1.5m judgment
CFTC v. Douglas Lien (ponzi schemes, 2021) CFTC 2021-04-08 $5.2m judgment
SEC v. Zachary J. Horwitz, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-04-08 — judgment
SEC v. Jason P. Wootten, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-03-23 — settled
SEC v. EarthSource Minerals International, LLC et al. (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-03-02 $125k settled
SEC v. James T. Booth (ponzi schemes, 2021) SEC 2021-02-22 — judgment
CFTC v. New York Man (ponzi schemes, 2021) CFTC 2021-01-26 — settled