SEC Accuses Port St. Lucie Man of Running $860,000 Investment Fraud Targeting Law Enforcement Officers
Regulator says Michael D. Williams lured police and firefighter pension clients with fake trading profits, then spent $384,000 on a sports car, vacations and credit cards
Washington, D.C., Sept. 23, 2026 — The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a South Florida man and his company with running a fraudulent investment scheme that raised roughly $860,000 from at least 18 investors, many of them current or retired law enforcement officers.
The SEC alleged in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida that Michael D. Williams, of Port St. Lucie, and CMI Capital LLC, which also does business as Check Mate Investments, defrauded clients between at least October 2023 and August 2024.
According to the regulator, Williams made numerous false and misleading statements to persuade clients to invest in two funds he controlled. Many investors trusted him because he worked for a third-party police and firefighter pension plan administrator, the SEC said. Williams allegedly told investors that one fund had a portfolio value exceeding $5 million and had generated returns of more than 140 percent.
“We allege that one of the tactics the defendants used to trick investors was to send them cropped screenshots of graphics that showed exorbitant trading profits,” said Stephanie N. Moot, Director of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office. “We strongly urge all investors to use caution when entrusting their funds to others and to be wary of anyone promising high returns with little to no risk.”
The SEC further alleged that Williams misappropriated approximately $384,000 of investor and client funds to pay personal expenses, including credit card balances, a sports car and vacations. According to the complaint, Williams began repaying certain investors in August 2024 and has repaid more than $375,000 to some of them.
The complaint charges Williams and CMI Capital with violating the antifraud and registration provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, the antifraud provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
The defendants agreed to a bifurcated settlement, subject to court approval, without admitting the allegations. Under the proposed judgments, they would be permanently enjoined from violating the charged provisions of the federal securities laws, and Williams would be barred from participating in the issuance, purchase, offer or sale of any security except for certain transactions in his personal accounts. The court would also order disgorgement with prejudgment interest against Williams and civil penalties against the defendants in amounts to be determined. Williams additionally agreed to a forthcoming associational bar.
SEC Censures OTC Link, Fines Broker-Dealer $575,000 for Nine Years of Compliance Failures
Regulator says firm repeatedly ignored examination findings on trading system security and resiliency
Washington, D.C., Sept. 22, 2026 — The Securities and Exchange Commission has censured New York-based broker-dealer OTC Link LLC and ordered it to pay a $575,000 civil penalty for longstanding violations of Regulation Systems Compliance and Integrity, the agency announced Tuesday.
According to the SEC’s settled order, OTC Link LLC failed between August 2016 and March 2025 to establish, maintain and enforce certain written policies and procedures required by Regulation SCI for OTC Link ATS, an alternative trading system for over-the-counter securities that the firm operates. The missing policies and procedures covered system security, access control, and application vulnerability management, testing and remediation.
The SEC’s Division of Examinations examined OTC Link ATS several times during the period and each time flagged required policies and procedures the firm had not established or had kept in draft form without finalizing or enforcing them, according to the order. The SEC found that OTC Link LLC repeatedly failed to promptly remediate the deficiencies.
“OTC Link’s continual failure to remediate deficiencies even after they were repeatedly flagged by Division of Examinations staff reflects a disregard for their findings and the overall examinations process and justifies a meaningful penalty,” said Laura D’Allaird, Chief of the Division of Enforcement’s Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit. “All SCI entities are expected to take their regulatory responsibilities seriously and promptly fix issues when they’re identified.”
The order finds that OTC Link LLC lacked written policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that OTC Link ATS’s SCI systems — and, for purposes of security standards, its indirect SCI systems — had levels of capacity, integrity, resiliency, availability and security adequate to maintain the system’s operational capability and promote the maintenance of fair and orderly markets, in violation of Rule 1001(a)(1) of Regulation SCI. By failing to have required minimum policies and procedures, to periodically review their effectiveness, and to take prompt action to remedy deficiencies, the firm also violated Rules 1001(a)(2) and 1001(a)(3), according to the order.
Without admitting the findings, OTC Link LLC agreed to a cease-and-desist order, a censure and the $575,000 civil penalty.
SEC Accuses New Jersey Man of Running $16 Million Ponzi Scheme Targeting Ghanaian Christian Community
Regulator says Ernest Ossei Boateng raised money from retirees, taxi drivers and churches, then spent $5.8 million on himself and paid earlier investors with $6.6 million in new funds
Washington, D.C., Sept. 10, 2026 — The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a New Jersey man and two companies he controls with running a Ponzi scheme that raised approximately $16 million from more than 200 inexperienced investors over a period of at least six years.
The SEC alleged in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York that Ernest Ossei Boateng, acting through Intercontinental Wealth Network LLC and I Wealth Network LP, operated the scheme from at least January 2020 until at least March 2026.
According to the complaint, Boateng solicited, recommended and sold interests in an alleged investment fund, primarily targeting Christians of Ghanaian heritage in New York and New Jersey, many of whom had no prior investing experience. Boateng allegedly told investors their investments would generate guaranteed fixed returns and that the fund would pursue a low-risk investment strategy.
Instead, the SEC alleged, Boateng misappropriated more than $5.8 million for personal expenses, including the purchase, renovation and furnishing of his home. He also allegedly used approximately $6.6 million to make Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors. To the limited extent he did invest the money, the complaint alleged, Boateng failed to place it in low-risk investments with fixed returns and instead engaged in high-risk, speculative day trading that produced more than $750,000 in losses.
“We allege that the defendants’ investors included retirees, taxi drivers, home health care providers, students, an ailing widow with young children, and at least two churches and one prayer group,” said Thomas P. Smith, Jr., Associate Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “The defendants’ sales pitch to victims included assuring them that their investments were safe and without risk — telling many their money was protected by so-called ‘financial, investment insurance.’ That’s as big of a red flag as we see in these types of scams.”
The complaint charges Boateng, Intercontinental and I Wealth with violating the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. It also charges Boateng and Intercontinental with violating the antifraud provisions of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
The SEC is seeking permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties against all defendants, as well as conduct-based injunctions against Boateng and Intercontinental.
SEC Accuses Bay Area Private Fund Executives of Running $80 Million Ponzi-Like Scheme Targeting Retirees
Regulator says Pacific Private Money Group leaders used new investor cash to pay earlier investors; fund assets fell from $121 million in outstanding investments to less than $17 million in recoverable assets
Washington, D.C., Sept. 1, 2026 — The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged two San Francisco Bay Area private fund executives with orchestrating an offering fraud that raised more than $80 million from approximately 190 mostly retail investors, many of them retired senior citizens.
The SEC alleged in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that Mark D. Hanf, former CEO of Novato, California-based Pacific Private Money Group LLC, and Hoai-Nam Chu Phan, also known as Nam Phan, former COO of a PPMG subsidiary, ran the scheme from approximately December 2021 to November 2025.
According to the complaint, Hanf and Phan misrepresented to investors in two PPMG private funds that investor capital would be used to originate or purchase loans secured by real estate, and that investors could expect preferred or fixed rates of return from the funds’ real estate lending activities. Instead, the SEC alleged, the two regularly used new investor capital to make Ponzi-like payments to prior investors, and the returns they touted came largely from new investor money rather than from fund earnings tied to the real estate lending business. The SEC further alleged that Hanf misappropriated more than $7 million of investor funds for his own personal benefit.
“This alleged scheme began to unravel in the fall of 2025 as numerous investors demanded to withdraw their money and the defendants did not have sufficient funds to satisfy those requests,” said Jason Lee, Associate Director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office. “Despite total outstanding investments in the two private funds of almost $121 million, by February 2026 the total recoverable assets of those funds were estimated to be less than $17 million. That amounts to devastating losses for so many investors.”
The complaint charges Hanf with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. It charges Phan with violating Sections 17(a)(1) and (3) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder.
Without admitting the allegations, Hanf and Phan each consented to the entry of a judgment, subject to court approval, that would permanently enjoin them from violating the charged provisions of the federal securities laws and from directly or indirectly participating in the issuance, purchase, offer or sale of any security, except for purchases or sales for their own personal accounts. The proposed judgments would also order that any disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil money penalties against Hanf, as well as any civil penalties against Phan, be determined by the court at a later date upon motion by the Commission.
In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced criminal charges against Hanf and Phan.
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