Market Manipulation. Search

Ponzi schemes enforcement actions

This library records 532 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
$26.3m
Median penalty
$480k
Largest
$12.6m
Criminal parallel
59%
Action Agency Filed Penalty Status
SEC v. Kevin B. Merrill, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-11-25 filed
SEC v. Bandimere and others (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-11-22 $130k settled
SEC v. Ruless Pierre a/k/a Rules Pierre (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-11-21 unknown
SEC v. Burkholz, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-11-20 unknown
SEC v. DFRF Enterprises LLC, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-10-29 $1m judgment
SEC v. Joseph Bayliss and Ronald Roach (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-10-22 settled
CFTC v. Nevada Company and its Owner (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-16 unknown
CFTC v. unnamed respondents (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-15 $12.6m judgment
SEC v. Eric J. "EJ" Dalius et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-10-15 unknown
SEC v. James T. Booth (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-09-30 filed
SEC v. Andres Fernandez and Edison Denizard (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 unknown
SEC v. William M. Apostelos, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 judgment
CFTC v. Trader and his Company (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-09-19 unknown
SEC v. Mediatrix Capital Inc., et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-09-18 filed
CFTC v. Unregistered Forex Trading Firm and Its Principal (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-09-09 filed
SEC v. Executive Financial Services, Inc. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-09-04 unknown
SEC v. Terry Wayne Kelly and Kelly Management, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-08-22 settled
SEC v. Tanmaya Kabra et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-08-08 unknown
SEC v. William J. Milles, Jr. and Donald J. Lutzko (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-07-18 filed
SEC v. Henry J. Wieniewitz, III, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-07-15 settled
CFTC v. unnamed respondents (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-06-27 $1.2m judgment
SEC v. Amrit J. S. Chahal (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-06-27 judgment
SEC v. Matthew A. Krimm, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-06-27 judgment
SEC v. Avi Chiat (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-06-24 judgment
SEC v. Landon M. Smith (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-06-24 filed
SEC v. Edward Lee Moody, Jr. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-06-21 judgment
CFTC v. Company and its Principal (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-06-18 filed
SEC v. James E. Hocker (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-06-04 judgment
SEC v. Syed Arham Arbab, Artis Proficio Capital Investments, LLC, and Artis Proficio Capital Management, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-06-03 unknown
SEC v. Craig H. Carton, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-05-31 judgment
SEC v. Robert C. Morgan (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-05-23 unknown
SEC v. Robert S. Davis, Jr., et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-05-22 filed
SEC v. Jonathan H. Seigel, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-05-21 filed
CFTC v. CEO of Managed Fund (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-05-10 filed
SEC v. Christopher D. Dougherty, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-04-26 filed
CFTC v. Forex Trading Firms and Principals (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-04-22 filed
SEC v. Ivan Acevedo & Dane R. Roseman (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-04-12 filed
SEC v. Scott Newsholme (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-04-05 judgment
SEC v. Carol Ann Pedersen (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-03-20 judgment
SEC v. Kent R.E. Whitney, David Lee Parrish, The Church for the Healthy Self a/k/a CHS Trust, and CHS Asset Management Inc. (paid stock promotion, 2019) SEC 2019-03-18 unknown
SEC v. William Neil "Doc" Gallagher, Gallagher Financial Group, Inc., and W. Neil Gallagher, Ph.D. Agency, Inc. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-03-12 filed
CFTC v. Defendants (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-03-04 $5.9m judgment
SEC v. NL Technology, LLC et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-02-11 judgment
SEC v. Spark Trading Group, LLC and Niket Shah (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-02-08 judgment
SEC v. Robert S. "Lute" Davis, Jr., et al., Jordan E. Goodman., Alan H. New, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-12-19 $100k settled
CFTC v. Chicago-area Trader (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-12-17 settled
CFTC v. Gaylen Rust (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-12-17 filed
CFTC v. Defendants Gaylen Dean Rust (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-11-16 filed
SEC v. Arthur Lamar Adams et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-11-09 settled
SEC v. Joseph Meli, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-11-09 settled
SEC v. Kevin B. Merrill, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-11-09 filed
SEC v. Craig H. Carton, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-11-08 filed
CFTC v. GBI (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-10-18 $2.5m judgment
SEC v. Merrill, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-10-11 filed
SEC v. Todd Elliott Hitt, Kiddar Capital LLC, Kiddar Group Holdings, Inc., as Defendants, and Kiddar AQ LLC a/k/a Kiddar Aquicore LLC, as Relief Defendants (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-10-05 settled
CFTC v. Owner of Precious Metals Firm (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-10-03 filed
SEC v. NL Technology, LLC et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-09-28 $480k judgment
SEC v. unnamed respondents (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-09-27 settled
SEC v. Ernest J. Romer, III (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-09-18 filed
SEC v. Jeffrey Goldman and Christopher Eikenberry (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-09-05 settled
SEC v. Barry M. Kornfeld, et al., Lynette M. Robbins and Knowles Systems, Inc. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-08-22 $100k settled
SEC v. John C. Maccoll (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-08-09 filed
SEC v. Arthur Lamar Adams and Madison Timber Properties, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-08-08 filed
SEC v. Murakami, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-08-06 judgment
SEC v. Rudden, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-07-26 unknown
SEC v. Edward Lee Moody Jr., et. al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-07-03 filed
SEC v. James VanBlaricum, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-06-26 settled
SEC v. James E. Hocker (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-06-21 filed
SEC v. Santillo, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-06-20 unknown
SEC v. Ralph T. Iannelli et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-06-06 filed
CFTC v. Alcibiades Cifuentes (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-05-08 $1.8m judgment
SEC v. Small Business Capital Corp. and others (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-05-02 $10k judgment
CFTC v. Charles H. McAllister of Alabama (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-04-30 filed
SEC v. Scott Newsholme (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-23 judgment
SEC v. Amrit J. S. Chahal (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-16 filed
CFTC v. The Kane Capital Investment Group (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-04-12 filed
SEC v. The Lifepay Group, LLC, et. al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-10 filed
SEC v. Joseph Meli, et al., Craig H. Carton, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-05 unknown
SEC v. Michael Scronic (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-04 filed
SEC v. Spark Trading Group LLC and Niket Shah (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-03-23 filed
SEC v. Geoffrey H. Lunn, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-02-12 judgment
CFTC v. Randall Crater (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-01-24 filed
SEC v. Ash Narayan, The Ticket Reserve Inc. a/k/a Forward Market Media, Inc., Richard M. Harmon, and John A. Kaptrosky (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-01-22 $325k judgment
CFTC v. Colorado Resident Dillon Michael Dean and His Company (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-01-19 filed
SEC v. David S. Haddad, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-01-11 $181k judgment
SEC v. Robert H. Shapiro, Woodbridge Group of Companies, LLC, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-12-21 filed
SEC v. Stephen C. Peters, VisionQuest Wealth Management, LLC, VisionQuest Capital, LLC, and VQ Wealth, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-12-21 filed
SEC v. Capital Financial Partners, LLC et al. (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-11-17 judgment
SEC v. Pedro Fort Berbel et al. (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-11-16 filed
SEC v. The End of the Rainbow Partners, L.L.C., and others (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-11-14 unknown
SEC v. James P. Kolf (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-11-03 settled
SEC v. Joseph Meli, et al. and Craig H. Carton, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-10-31 unknown
SEC v. Marc A. Celello (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-10-06 filed
SEC v. Homero Joshua Garza (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-10-04 judgment
CFTC v. California Residents Hasan Sarwar a/k/a Alexander Sarwar (ponzi schemes, 2017) CFTC 2017-09-30 filed
SEC v. Naris Chamroonrat, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-09-28 judgment
CFTC v. Nicholas Gelfman and Gelfman Blueprint (ponzi schemes, 2017) CFTC 2017-09-22 filed
SEC v. Francisco Illarramendi, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-09-19 judgment
SEC v. Craig H. Carton, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-09-06 filed
SEC v. Scott Newsholme (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-09-06 filed