*US SEC Enforcement Actions Against Ponzi Schemes*
What Is A Ponzi Scheme?
A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors. Ponzi scheme organizers often solicit new investors by promising to invest funds in opportunities claimed to generate high returns with little or no risk. With little or no legitimate earnings, Ponzi schemes require a constant flow of money from new investors to continue. Ponzi schemes inevitably collapse, most often when it becomes difficult to recruit new investors or when a large number of investors ask for their funds to be returned.
Curtailing Ponzi schemes and holding accountable the individuals responsible for these scams is a vital component of the SEC's enforcement program.
Examples of SEC enforcement actions against Ponzi schemes include:
2014
Neal V. Goyal – SEC charged a Chicago-based investment fund manager with operating a Ponzi scheme that used new investor funds to pay redemptions to existing investors and fund his own lavish lifestyle.
Gaeton "Guy" Della Penna – SEC charged a Sarasota, Fla.-based private fund manager with defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme that ensued after he squandered their money on bad investments and personal expenses.
Joseph Signore and Paul L. Schumack II – SEC charged the operators of a South Florida-based Ponzi scheme targeting investors through YouTube videos and selling them investments in a product called virtual concierge machines (VCMs) that would purportedly generate guaranteed returns of 300 to 500 percent in four years.
*Canopy Financial* - SEC obtained an emergency asset freeze to halt a $75 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors in a private placement offering. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois brought parallel criminal actions against Canopy Financial's founders.
Trevor Cook - SEC obtained an emergency asset freeze to halt a Ponzi scheme that raised $190 million from 1,000 investors through the unregistered sale of investments in a purported foreign currency trading venture. A judge later ordered Cook to be jailed for failing to comply with the asset freeze . The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota brought a parallel criminal action against Cook.
Mantria Corporation - SEC obtained an emergency asset freeze against four individuals and two companies for perpetrating a $30 million Ponzi scheme that persuaded more than 300 investors nationwide to participate in purported environmentally-friendly investment opportunities.
When will our government wake up to this menace?
Why can't Nigeria copy the US in dealing with this fraud?
Should we wait until Nigeria/Nigerians are ruined by this unscrupulous business?
Is the government really aware of the consequences of these schemes?
I really wish we could have a saner and organized system in Nigeria
God bless Nigeria
Data from: https://www.sec.gov/spotlight/enf-actions-ponzi.shtml
What Is A Ponzi Scheme?
A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors. Ponzi scheme organizers often solicit new investors by promising to invest funds in opportunities claimed to generate high returns with little or no risk. With little or no legitimate earnings, Ponzi schemes require a constant flow of money from new investors to continue. Ponzi schemes inevitably collapse, most often when it becomes difficult to recruit new investors or when a large number of investors ask for their funds to be returned.
Curtailing Ponzi schemes and holding accountable the individuals responsible for these scams is a vital component of the SEC's enforcement program.
Examples of SEC enforcement actions against Ponzi schemes include:
2014
Neal V. Goyal – SEC charged a Chicago-based investment fund manager with operating a Ponzi scheme that used new investor funds to pay redemptions to existing investors and fund his own lavish lifestyle.
Gaeton "Guy" Della Penna – SEC charged a Sarasota, Fla.-based private fund manager with defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme that ensued after he squandered their money on bad investments and personal expenses.
Joseph Signore and Paul L. Schumack II – SEC charged the operators of a South Florida-based Ponzi scheme targeting investors through YouTube videos and selling them investments in a product called virtual concierge machines (VCMs) that would purportedly generate guaranteed returns of 300 to 500 percent in four years.
*Canopy Financial* - SEC obtained an emergency asset freeze to halt a $75 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors in a private placement offering. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois brought parallel criminal actions against Canopy Financial's founders.
Trevor Cook - SEC obtained an emergency asset freeze to halt a Ponzi scheme that raised $190 million from 1,000 investors through the unregistered sale of investments in a purported foreign currency trading venture. A judge later ordered Cook to be jailed for failing to comply with the asset freeze . The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota brought a parallel criminal action against Cook.
Mantria Corporation - SEC obtained an emergency asset freeze against four individuals and two companies for perpetrating a $30 million Ponzi scheme that persuaded more than 300 investors nationwide to participate in purported environmentally-friendly investment opportunities.
When will our government wake up to this menace?
Why can't Nigeria copy the US in dealing with this fraud?
Should we wait until Nigeria/Nigerians are ruined by this unscrupulous business?
Is the government really aware of the consequences of these schemes?
I really wish we could have a saner and organized system in Nigeria
God bless Nigeria
Data from: https://www.sec.gov/spotlight/enf-actions-ponzi.shtml
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