The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Stephen Scott Moleski and David Michael with fraud in connection with an investment adviser and private fund enterprise they operated.
According to an Associated Press report, Moleski was arrested in 1989 for taking part in a telemarketing boiler-room scam in which 10,000 investors across the country lost in excess of $50 million.
The SEC also charged Moleski, Michael and their agent, Erik Christian Jones, with engaging in unregistered offerings of securities and acting as unregistered brokers.
According to the SEC's complaint, in 2018 and 2019, Moleski, Michael, and Jones solicited investors to purchase securities offered by a pair of unaffiliated companies. Approximately 30% of the funds raised were paid, directly or indirectly, to the defendants as commissions, the SEC charged, most was misappropriated by Moleski and Michael, and very little was actually invested.
The complaint alleges that none of the defendants were registered as broker-dealers or affiliated with registered broker-dealers at the time.
In the current case, the SEC is seeking injunctions, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, and civil penalties against the defendants.
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