On April 20, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a consent judgment against Gregory Altieri, of Melville, New York, for operating a fraudulent, Ponzi-like scheme that defrauded current and retired police officers and firefighters, among others, and misappropriating investor funds.

According to the SEC's complaint, filed on December 30, 2020, from at least 2017 through early 2020, Altieri, through an entity he owned and controlled, raised more than $69 million from at least 80 investors by falsely claiming that the investments would be used to acquire jewelry. Altieri allegedly guaranteed investors that they would quickly receive a return on their investment, ranging from approximately 30% of their initial investment to, in some instances, more than 100%. However, as the complaint alleges, Altieri used the vast majority of the funds to perpetuate and conceal his fraudulent scheme, using funds from new investors to pay earlier investors their anticipated returns. The complaint further alleges that Altieri also misappropriated at least $3.8 million in investor funds.

The judgment permanently enjoins Altieri from violating the antifraud provisions of 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, and it orders him to pay disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty in an amount to be determined by the court upon a motion of the SEC.

The SEC's litigation is being conducted by Elizabeth Butler, Pascale Guerrier, and Thomas P. Smith, Jr., of the SEC's New York Regional Office, and supervised by Lara S. Mehraban.