U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 21354 / December 29, 2009
DEFAULT JUDGMENT OF PERMANENT INJUNCTION AND OTHER RELIEF ENTERED AGAINST DEFENDANTS RONNIE EUGENE BASS, HOMEPALS, LLC AND HOMEPALS INVESTMENT CLUB, LLC
Securities and Exchange Commission v. HomePals, LLC, HomePals Investment Club, LLC, Ronnie Eugene Bass, Jr., Abner Alabre and Brian J. Taglieri, Civil Action No. 09-CV-81524-Ryskamp/Vitunac (S.D. Fla.)
The Commission announced that on December 21, 2009, the Honorable Kenneth L. Ryskamp, United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of Florida, entered a default judgment of permanent injunction and other relief against Defendants Ronnie Eugene Bass (Bass), HomePals, LLC and HomePals Investment Club, LLC (collectively HomePals). Bass and HomePals defaulted by failing to appear, answer or otherwise plead in response to the Commission's complaint. The default judgment permanently enjoins Bass and HomePals from future violations of Sections 5(a), 5(c) and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. In addition, the default judgment enjoins Bass from future violations of Sections 206(1), (2) and (4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-8.
On October 16, 2009, the Commission filed its complaint against Bass, HomePals and others alleging that they ran a Ponzi scheme and affinity fraud that targeted Haitian-American investors residing primarily in South Florida. The Commission's complaint alleged that from April 2008 through December 2008, HomePals, and their principals, Bass, Abner Alabre and Brian J. Taglieri, raised at least $14.3 million through the sale of unsecured notes to hundreds of Haitian-American investors by promising guaranteed returns of 100% every 90 days. The defendants claimed they were able to generate such spectacular returns through. Bass' purported successful trading of stock options and commodities. The Commission's complaint further alleged that, in reality, Bass traded no more than $1.2 million of the $14.3 million raised, generated trading losses of 19 percent, and that HomePals used the bulk of the investor funds to repay earlier investors in typical Ponzi scheme fashion.
For more information on earlier actions in this case, see LR-21251 (Oct. 16, 2009), LR-21265 (Oct. 29, 2009), and LR-21316 (Dec. 1, 2009).