Financial Enforcement Actions | Week of August 14 to August 20

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Ali R. Bazzi & Welther Oaks LLC
Violation: From at least March 2018 through the present (the “Relevant Period”), Ali R. Bazzi (“Bazzi”), individually and as agent and principal of Welther Oaks LLC (“Welther Oaks”) (collectively “Defendants”), operated a fraudulent scheme in which Defendants solicited, accepted and misappropriated funds for a pooled investment in off-exchange leveraged or margined foreign currency exchange (“forex”) contracts(“forex pool”)… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Terry Michael Svejda & Centurion Capital Management Inc.
Violation: Throughout the Relevant Period, Svejda told pool participants that he would use pool funds to trade exchange-traded commodity futures contracts; instead, Defendants misappropriated approximately 80 percent of pool participant funds. In connection with its solicitations on behalf of the Decadian commodity pool, and its operation of the pool, Centurion was required to register with the Commission as a Commodity Pool Operator (“CPO), and Svejda was required to register as an Associated Person (“AP”) of Centurion… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Illumina, Inc; GRAIL, Inc
Violation: The Complaint in this case, issued March 30, 2021, challenges the proposed acquisition of GRAIL by Illumina. According to the Complaint, the acquisition, if consummated, will substantially lessen competition in an alleged United States multi-cancer early detection (“MCED”) test market… Read More

Penalties: $15,000.00
Respondent: Steven D. Peyroux; Brent J. Detelich & Regenerative Medicine Institute of America, LLC also d/b/a Stem Cell Institute of America, LLC; Physicians Business Solutions, LLC; Seuperior Healthcare, LLC
Violation: The representations set forth in Paragraph 38 are false or misleading or were not substantiated at the time the representations were made. Through the means described in Paragraphs 30-31, Defendants have represented, directly or indirectly, expressly or by implication, that Defendant PBS offers a regenerative medicine compliance training program that is approved by the U.S. Federal Trade Comission and by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Defendants have provided their clients with advertising, marketing, and promotional materials and training referred to in Paragraphs 19-31, containing among other things, false and unsubstantiated representations, as described in Paragraph 38… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Alon Zak
Violation: From April 2019 through August 2019, while registered with FINRA member firm Pruco Securities, LLC (Pruco Securities), Respondent Alon Zak created three fictitious life insurance policy applications for two former insurance customers, BM and CM, and then submitted them to Pruco Securities’ insurance affiliate… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: William Wright Jr
Violation: Wright failed to provide information and documents requested pursuant to FINRA Rule 8210. By virtue of this misconduct, Booth violated FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: $5,000.00
Respondent: Debasish Hajra
Violation: In June and July 2018, while associated with Wells Fargo, Respondent violated FINRA Rule 2010 by effecting nine unauthorized trades with a total principal value of $526,966 in his deceased customer’s account… Read More

Penalties: $300,000.00
Respondent: J.P. Morgan Clearing Corporation n/k/a J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
Violation: The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted Regulation SHO to address concerns regarding persistent failures to deliver and potentially abusive “naked” short selling, e.g., the sale of securities that an investor does not own or has not borrowed… Read More

Penalties: $61,720.00
Respondent: Ascendiant Capital Markets, LLC
Violation: On May 7, 2015, Ascendiant’s market making desk effected 45 short sales in an equity security, Riviera Tool Co. (RIVT), for its own account, without complying with the locate requirement of Rule 203(b)(1) of Regulation SHO of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Regulation SHO). In each of these 45 instances, the firm erroneously relied upon the bona-fide market making exemption to Rule 203(b)(1) of Regulation SHO, effecting each short sale without (1) borrowing the security, or entering into a bona-fide arrangement to borrow the security… Read More

Penalties: $5,000.00
Respondent: Alfonse Joseph Stazzone
Violation: Between September 2017 and August 2018, Stazzone excessively and unsuitably traded one customer’s account, in violation of FINRA Rules 2111 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: $5,000.00
Respondent: Maxim Beliakov
Violation: Between September 2017 and August 2018, Beliakov excessively and unsuitably traded one customer’s account, in violation of FINRA Rules 2111 and 2010… Read More

Penalties: $61,720.00
Respondent: Ascendiant Capital Markets, LLC
Violation: On May 7, 2015, Ascendiant’s market making desk effected 45 short sales in an equity security, Riviera Tool Co. (RIVT), for its own account, without complying with the locate requirement of Rule 203(b)(1) of Regulation SHO of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Regulation SHO). In each of these 45 instances, the firm erroneously relied upon the bona-fide market making exemption to Rule 203(b)(1) of Regulation SHO, effecting each short sale without (1) borrowing the security, or entering into a bona-fide arrangement to borrow the security… Read More

Penalties: $50,000.00
Respondent: Primary Capital, LLC
Violation: During the period December 2013 through February 2019, Primary participated in EB-5 offerings without establishing, maintaining and enforcing a supervisory system, including written supervisory procedures (WSPs), reasonably designed to supervise its EB-5 business… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Robert J. Mueller; Jeffrey L. Mueller; Belinda G. Breen & Deeproot Funds LLC. (a/k/a dprt Funds LLC); Policy Services Inc.; Deeproot Tech LLC; Deeproot Pinball LLC.; Deeproot Studios LLC; Deeproot Sports & Entertainment LLC; Deeproot RE 12621 Silicon DR LLC; MB Hale Ohana Revocable Trust
Violation: Defendants directly or indirectly employed a device, scheme, or artifice to defraud, made untrue statements of material fact or material omissions, and engaged in acts, practices, or courses of business which operate or would operate as a fraud or deceit, in connection with the purchase or sale of securities, and in the offer and sale of securities… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Robert J. Mueller & Deeproot Funds LLC
Violation: The SEC’s complaint alleges that Robert J. Mueller and his company deeproot Funds, LLC were investment advisers to two pooled investment funds that Mueller created. According to the complaint, Mueller and deeproot persuaded investors, many of whom were retirees, to cash out annuities they held with other investment companies and invest in the funds… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Marcus Boggs
Violation: The criminal charges against Boggs stem, in part, from the same misconduct alleged in the SEC’s complaint, which was filed in federal district court in Chicago, Illinois. The SEC’s complaint alleges that Boggs, without his clients’ knowledge or authorization, misappropriated his clients’ money by selling securities in their advisory accounts and then transferring the proceeds to his personal credit card account. The complaint further alleges that from 2016 to 2018, Boggs made more than 200 illegal transfers from three advisory clients’ accounts to his personal credit card account… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Joshua Dax Cabrera; Paul Hess & Medsis International, Inc
Violation: According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, beginning in 2015 and continuing through at least 2020, Hess and Cabrera partnered to fraudulently raise more than $12.9 million from more than 150 U.S. and foreign investors by offering unregistered Medsis securities… Read More

Penalties: $3,765,843.00
Respondent: Michael Noble (a.k.a. Michael Crypto); Joshua Jeppesen; Laura Mascola
Violation: According to the SEC’s complaint, filed on May 28, 2021, from approximately June 2017 to January 2018, Noble promoted BitConnect and marketed and sold securities in its “lending program.” The SEC’s complaint alleges that Noble offered and sold the securities without registering the securities offering with the Commission, and without being registered as a broker-dealer with the Commission, as required by the federal securities laws… Read More

Penalties: $408,571.00
Respondent: William Scott Lawler; Natalie Bannister
Violation: The SEC’s complaint, filed on July 12, 2019, charged Lawler with engaging in schemes to fraudulently transfer control over the shares of two publicly-traded shell companies to a client. The complaint alleged that Lawler represented his client on the purchase of Broke Out Inc. (BRKO) and the predecessor to Immage Biotherapeutics Corp. (IMMG)… Read More

Penalties: $300,000.00
Respondent: SoFi Wealth LLC.
Violation: These proceedings arise out of breaches of fiduciary duty by San Francisco-based robo adviser SoFi Wealth, LLC (“SoFi Wealth”)in connection with its April 2019 investment of assets of approximately 20,000 automated portfolio accounts into two new proprietary exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) sponsored by its parent company, Social Finance, Inc. (“SoFi”)… Read More

Penalties: $103,000.00
Respondent: Wendan Bao, Shuo Gu & Lendingcar Corp, H7 Credit LLC
Violation: These proceedings arose out of Respondents’ misappropriation of assets in connection with their solicitation of investments in DeYao Fund, LP, a pooled investment vehicle set up to fund dealer floor plan loans to automobile dealerships in order to finance the purchase of used car inventory… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: William Scott Lawler, Esq
Violation: The complaint alleged that, in furtherance of these schemes, Lawler, among other actions, participated in the deposit of certain of those shares in brokerage accounts so that they could be resold to the public. He did so by providing false legal opinion letters to the broker-dealers, opining that the transferred shares were “freely trading” when they were not, to deceive them into accepting deposit of those shares. In fact, those shares were “restricted” shares that could only be resold with registration or pursuant to an available exemption, because they were under the control of the issuer and/or its affiliates… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Denise Grevas
Violation: The SEC’s complaint alleges that Grevas learned material, non-public information about the planned tender offer during a telephone call with her spouse, who was a member of Lundbeck’s due diligence team for the Alder tender offer, in August 2019… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Matthew O. Clason
Violation: The Commission alleges that, from at least September 2018 to August 2020, Clason misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars from a client of the investment adviser and broker-dealer firms with which he was associated, in breach of his fiduciary duty to his client… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Jeffrey Slothower & Battery Private, Inc
Violation: The SEC’s complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleges that Jeffrey Slothower, through his entity Battery Private, Inc., engaged in two separate fraudulent schemes… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Arthur Hall & Rising Biosciences, Inc
Violation: According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Rising Biosciences and Hall made false and misleading statements in press releases, on websites, and in social media videos that Rising Biosciences’ disinfectant products, including Oxithymol, Oxi Thyme, and/or their ingredients, were CDC approved or EPA registered… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Michael J. Conte & Fusion Analytics Investment Partners, LLC; Fusion Analytics Holdings, LLC
Violation: According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, from 2010 to 2016, the defendants solicited individual retail investors and advisory clients to purchase promissory notes issued by Fusion Holdings and raised $1.4 million from 10 investors without disclosing material facts regarding FAIP’s declining financial condition… Read More

Penalties: $8,978,183.00
Respondent: Marc Bistricer; Paul Zogala & Murchinson Ltd
Violation: These proceedings concern Respondents causing the executing brokers of a hedge fund (the “Hedge Fund”) to violate the order-marking and locate requirements of Regulation SHO of the Exchange Act, and Respondents Murchinson and Bistricer (the “Murchinson Respondents”) causing the Hedge Fund to act as a dealer without registering with the Commission, or being exempt from registration, in violation of Section 15(a)(1) of the Exchange Act… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Matthew Panuwat
Violation: Panuwat allegedly purchased the options within minutes of learning highly confidential information concerning the merger. According to the complaint, Panuwat knew that investment bankers had cited Incyte as a comparable company in discussions with Medivation and he anticipated that the acquisition of Medivation would likely lead to an increase in Incyte’s stock price… Read More

Penalties: $20,000.00
Respondent: Christopher E. Knauth, CPA
Violation: This proceeding arises from failures by Christopher E. Knauth in conducting the fiscal year 2018 audit and quarterly reviews for the periods ended June 30, 2018, September 30, 2018, and March 31, 2019, for Issuer A on behalf of Audit Firm A. At the outset, Knauth failed to register Audit Firm A, of which he was a principal, with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”)… Read More

Penalties: $1,000,000.00
Respondent: Pearson plc
Violation: Pearson, a multinational educational publishing and services company, made material misstatements and omissions regarding a 2018 cyber intrusion that affected several million rows of student data across 13,000 school, district, and university AIMSweb 1.0 customer accounts in the United States… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Alexander J. Dillon; Cosmin I. Panait; Salvador E. Rosillo; Lawrence B. Adams & GPL Ventures LLC; GPL Management LLC; HempAmericana, Inc; Seaside Advisors, LLC
Violation: According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, GPL Ventures purchased, since at least July 2017, more than 1.5 billion shares of HempAmericana, Inc. stock through a Regulation A offering, with the understanding that HempAmericana would use a portion of the offering proceeds to secretly finance stock promotions that would enable GPL Ventures to sell its HempAmericana shares at a profit… Read More

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Penalties: $30,000,000.00
Respondent: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) US LLC
Violation: FCA knowingly joined a conspiracy whereby it paid and delivered over $3.5 million in money and things of value to officers and employees of the United Auto Workers (UAW), located in Detroit, Mich., from 2009 through 2016… Read More

Penalties: $50,950.00
Respondent: Ali R. Bazzi & Welther Oaks LLC
Violation: On April 22, 2021, Merritt pleaded guilty to one count of embezzling union funds, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c). The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Boston-Buffalo District Office… Read More