SEC sues company for misleading investors

Securities SEC Enforcement Securities Act Securities Exchange Act

On September 21, the SEC filed a complaint against a Puerto-Rico based company and its two managing members (collectively, “defendants”) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico alleging that they offered and sold to retail investors the opportunity to share the profits of a purported Colombian gold mining operation. According to the SEC, the offering, which was unregistered with the Commission, was part of a fraudulent scheme that raised approximately $2.7 million. The complaint also alleges that one of the members and the company authorized advertisements that promised “exorbitant returns on the investment, and provided investors with false and misleading [decks] that misrepresented the status of the mining operations,” while the other member allegedly signed contracts with investors when he had knowledge that the company’s statements to investors were misleading. The SEC’s complaint alleges violations of the registration and anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws, specifically, the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint seeks a permanent injunction against the defendants, a permanent ban prohibiting the defendants’ participation in the issuance, purchase, offer, or sale of securities in an unregistered offering, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and civil penalties.