SEC Announces Fraud Charges against 5 Individuals in $58 Million Scheme

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced fraud charges against five individuals for allegedly operating a call center in Medellin, Colombia. According to the authority, high-pressure sales tactics were used, and individuals lured investors through false promises.

The details shared by the SEC show that US citizen Chester Alvarez, Canadian citizens Francis Biller, Raymond Dove and Troy Gran-Brooks, and Dutch citizen Justin Plaizier operated call centers through fake websites and numbers.

In total, they generated over $58 million in trading from the fraudulent scheme. Moreover, the individuals promoted thinly traded stocks and made false promises to investors regarding returns.

"These scam artists went to great lengths, using bogus companies, aliases and spoofing their phone numbers, to defraud and mislead investors into a pump-and-dump scheme," said Paul Levenson, the Director of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office. "We urge investors to read the investor education materials about fraud in the ‘penny stock’ market.”

The SEC has filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Fraudulent Financial Activities

Illegal activities across the financial sector have increased substantially in the past few years. With the emergence of new assets like crypto, scammers have found new ways to lure investors by promising high returns. Earlier this month, the SEC charged siblings John and JonAtina (Tina) Barksdale in a $124 million crypto fraud operation.

While providing details about the recent $58 million fraudulent scheme, the SEC mentioned: “The SEC’s complaint alleges that, using the false personas, the defendants orchestrated a pump-and-dump scheme and made false and misleading statements when they promoted the stock of at least 18 issuers, and that they generated more than $58 million in trading from this scheme. The complaint also alleges that the defendants were paid approximately $10 million for promoting thinly traded stocks, which they misled investors to believe had high prospects for success.”