Los Angeles Investment Adviser Indicted
From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:
A federal grand jury in Los Angeles has indicted investment adviser Motty Mizrahi on wire fraud charges. The SEC previously charged Mizrahi and his sole proprietorship MBIG Company in an emergency action where it obtained a temporary restraining order and subsequently a preliminary injunction against Mizrahi and MBIG, for perpetrating a fraud on their investment advisory clients.
According to the indictment, Mizrahi and another individual engaged in a scheme to defraud more than forty investors, as well as Mizrahi's employer, a private high school. Holding himself out as a licensed professional money manager, broker, and Certified Public Accountant, Mizrahi claimed that he employed sophisticated "risk-free" trading strategies with "guaranteed returns"; that investors' principal could be redeemed "on-demand"; and that Mizrahi would be compensated only by sharing 25% of investors' profits. Instead, Mizrahi transferred millions of investor monies to his trading accounts, where he accumulated extensive losses and converted investor monies to his personal use. Further, Mizrahi lulled investors by providing them false account statements that contained illusory gains, fraudulently-altered fictitious brokerage statements purporting to show millions in reserves and falsely assuring them that their funds were safely invested.
The criminal case against Mizrahi is based on the same conduct alleged in the SEC's complaint. The SEC charges Mizrahi and MBIG with fraudulently misleading advisory clients through the same misrepresentations regarding his background, trading strategies, compensation that are charged in the indictment, and lulling investors through fictitious brokerage records and false account statements designed to conceal his fraud.
The attorneys of Eccleston Law LLC represent investors and advisors nationwide in securities and employment matters. The securities lawyers at Eccleston Law also practice a variety of other areas of practice for financial investors and advisors including Securities Fraud, Compliance Protection, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, FINRA Matters, and much more. Our attorneys draw on a combined experience of nearly 65 years in delivering the highest quality legal services. If you are in need of legal services, contact us to schedule a one-on-one consultation today.
Related Attorneys: James J. Eccleston
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