InfoBytes Blog
SEC charges Florida payday lender with making fraudulent misrepresentations in offering
On September 27, the SEC filed charges against a Florida-based payday lender and its CEO (collectively, “defendants”) for fraudulently raising more than $66 million through the sale of promissory notes to hundreds of retail investors, including members of the South Florida Venezuelan-American community. The SEC charges the defendants with falsely promising investors that their money would be used solely to make small-dollar, short-term loans and for associated costs. However, the defendants allegedly misappropriated roughly $2.9 million for personal use, transferred approximately $3.6 million to family and friends without an apparent legitimate business purpose, and used at least $19.2 million of investor funds to make Ponzi-like payments to other investors. The complaint further contends that the defendants mislead investors by promising high annual returns and representing that the business was profitable, and made misrepresentations about the safety and security of the promissory notes. The SEC’s complaint alleges violations of the registration and antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, and charges the CEO with acting as an unregistered broker. The complaint seeks a permanent injunction against the defendants, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and an officer and director ban against the CEO.