SEC accuses fund advisor of defrauding SpaceX, OpenAI investors

The Securities and Exchange Commission accuses a New York fund advisor of running five schemes that allegedly defrauded pre-IPO SpaceX and OpenAI investors. 

The SEC filed a complaint on September 30, 2026, in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York against Meyer Global Management LLC and its sole owner. The filing alleges the defendants misappropriated at least $1,270,000 from private funds and deceived nearly 100 investors over five years. 

The firm raised at least $18.5 million by selling interests in funds designed to hold pre-IPO shares in companies including SpaceX and OpenAI, according to the complaint. It claimed exempt reporting advisor status starting in 2022 and reported at most $34,331,748 in regulatory assets under management between 2022 and 2025. 

The complaint describes five alleged schemes from December 2021 to the present. 

In the first, the SEC alleges the defendants raised approximately $1.1 million from 13 retail investors for a SpaceX-linked fund. When a third-party fund refused to approve the transfer, the defendants allegedly told investors the investment "has been closed" and sent statements showing "unrealized gains" on shares the fund never acquired, according to the filing. The SEC alleges $570,000 of returned capital went to a personal bank account, an investment in "an exotic car company," and a different fund. 

The second scheme is the most colorful. The filing alleges the defendants used $85,950 raised from three investors for a fund formed to invest in online casino operator PlayStar as "an undisclosed, months-long $85,950 interest-free loan." The complaint says the firm's principal spent over $18,000 of that money "in a single night for his personal entertainment at a strip club," including transferring $10,000 to the club's manager with memo lines reading "movie tickets and theatre performance" and "opera." He invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege when asked about the transfers in sworn testimony, according to the filing. The fund account hit a $0 balance, yet the defendants told an investor "your capital is safe in the fund," the complaint says. 

In a third scheme involving a fund repurposed for OpenAI, the SEC alleges the defendants collected approximately $1,097,500 from six investors and wired roughly $168,000 to a personal account - about three times the agreed management fees. The OpenAI deal allegedly fell through in March 2024, but investors were not told for six months, the complaint says. As of filing, the account held approximately $15,600 while three investors were still owed approximately $195,000. 

The fourth involved SpaceX-linked funds that had raised approximately $5.6 million from about 45 investors. A court-appointed receiver wired $13,829,158.01 for distribution, but the SEC alleges only approximately $13,142,522 reached investors. The defendants then allegedly required investors to sign broad releases before paying out at amounts roughly 5% below what their own calculations showed was owed. 

In the fifth, the complaint alleges the defendants failed to pay a $46,020 capital call, ignored three default notices, and never responded to litigation - resulting in forfeiture of all of a fund's SpaceX interests worth approximately $3,125,000. On the day of SpaceX's IPO, the defendants still emailed investors to "stay tuned for further updates as to your distribution of shares," the complaint says. 

The SEC charges violations of Sections 206(1), 206(2), and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act and Rule 206(4)-8. It seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement, civil penalties, and a permanent industry bar. 

These allegations have not been tested in court. The defendants have not filed a response, and no court has ruled on the merits.