THE SOUTH FLORIDA MAN AND HIS ALLEGED PONZI SCHEME

FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
SEC Charges South Florida Man with Recruiting Victims of Ponzi Scheme

he Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a South Florida man with defrauding at least 14 investors by soliciting them to invest in a Ponzi scheme. A significant number of the victims were members of the gay community in Wilton Manors, Florida and included inexperienced, unaccredited investors.

In the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the SEC alleges that James F. Ellis, 69, a resident of Wilton Manors, Florida, fraudulently solicited investors for George Elia from 2004 to 2011. Elia operated pooled investment vehicles under the names Investor Funding Club and Vision Equities Funds. Elia purported to trade in stocks and earn annual returns as high as 26 percent, but was actually running a Ponzi scheme and paying returns to existing investors from new investor funds. In April 2012, the Commission charged Elia with securities fraud. See Litigation Release No. 22319 (April 6, 2012).

According to the Commission's complaint against Ellis, Ellis persuaded prospective investors by falsely telling them that he had personally invested with Elia at least $5 million that he had inherited from his parents. Ellis variously told investors that he earned 16% to 20% annual returns on his investment with Elia or that he earned $20,000 to $24,000 per month. Elia and his entities did in fact pay Ellis over $2.1 million over seven years. However, those payments were not investment returns because, as Ellis knew, he had not made an investment with Elia that would have returned such large sums of money. According to the complaint, Ellis also reassured prospective investors of the safety of the investment by falsely telling them that he had tested Elia by depositing a large amount of money with Elia, then asking for and receiving it back.

According to the complaint, Ellis bolstered his deceptive claims about the success of his investment with Elia with ostentatious displays of wealth, including expensive real estate, luxury cars, jewelry, opulent entertaining of his friends, and expensive cruises. Though Ellis claimed that his investments with Elia made his luxurious lifestyle possible, he failed to disclose to investors that his wealth derived not from legitimate investment returns but from the money that Elia paid him for fraudulently touting Elia's investment vehicles.

The Commission's complaint charges Ellis with securities fraud in violation of Section 17(a)(1), (2) and (3) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act") and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The complaint also alleges that Ellis violated the registration provisions of Sections 5(a) and (c) of the Securities Act. The Commission is seeking permanent injunctions against Ellis for violating the above provisions of the securities laws, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus pre-judgment interest, and civil penalties.

Separately, the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida today announced criminal charges against Ellis for his conduct in the scheme.

The Commission thanks the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their assistance in this matter.

SEC BRINGS CHARGES IN CONNECTION WITH SECONDARY MARKET TRADING OF PRIVATE COMPANY SHARES

The following excerpt is from the SEC website:
March 14, 2012
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a New York City area fund manager with misleading investors and pocketing undisclosed commissions in connection with several pooled investment vehicles he operated.

The SEC alleges that Mazzola, who lives in Upper Saddle River, N.J., and his firms Felix Investments, LLC, and Facie Libre Management Associates, LLC, created two funds to buy securities of Facebook and other high profile technology companies. However, Mazzola and his firms engaged in improper self-dealing – earning secret commissions above the 5 percent disclosed in offering materials on the funds’ acquisition of Facebook stock and on re-sales of fund interests to new investors. The hidden charges essentially raised the prices paid by their investors for Facebook stock because it created a disincentive for Mazzola and his firms to negotiate a lower price for fund investors. They also sold Facie Libre fund interests despite knowing the funds lacked ownership of certain Facebook shares.

According to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in San Francisco, Mazzola and his firms also made false statements to investors in other funds they created to invest in various pre-IPO companies. For instance, they misled one investor into believing a Felix fund had successfully acquired stock of Zynga. They also made false representations about Twitter’s revenue to attract investors to their Twitter fund.

The SEC’s lawsuit charges Mazzola, Felix Investments, and Facie Libre Management Associates with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5(b) thereunder. It also charges Mazzola and Facie Libre Management Associates with violating Section 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-8 thereunder. The Commission seeks court orders prohibiting them from engaging in securities fraud and requiring them to disgorge their ill-gotten gains and pay financial penalties.

Separately, the Commission initiated a settled administrative proceeding against Laurence Albukerk and his company EB Financial Group LLC, for failing to disclose in their offering materials certain compensation they earned in connection with two Facebook funds they managed. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Albukerk and EB Financial consented to entry of a SEC order finding that they violated Section 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act and Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act and Rule 206(4)-8 thereunder. Albukerk and EB Financial also agreed to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest of $210,499 and a penalty of $100,000.

The Commission also initiated a settled administrative proceeding against SharesPost, Inc., an online platform that facilitated certain secondary market transactions, and its CEO, Greg Brogger, for effecting securities transactions without registering as a broker-dealer. SharesPost and Brogger consented to an SEC order finding that SharesPost committed and Brogger caused a violation of Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act of 1934. They agreed to pay penalties of $80,000 and $20,000 respectively.