Harshad Shah; Virendra Parekh; Namah Wealth Creation & Preservation, L.P.

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 26248 / February 18, 2025

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Harshad Shah, Virendra Parekh, and Namah Wealth Creation & Preservation, L.P., No. 5:25-cv-01666 (N.D. Cal. filed Feb. 18, 2025)

SEC Charges California Insurance Agents and Their Firm for Fraudulent Securities Offering

The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed charges against Harshad Shah, Virendra Parekh, and their Milpitas, California–based firm, Namah Wealth Creation and Preservation, L.P., for allegedly perpetrating a $1.5 million securities offering fraud. 

According to the SEC’s complaint, in February 2020, Shah and Parekh offered and sold a $1.5 million “funding note” issued by Namah Wealth to a California investor by falsely representing, among other things, that the investment would pay a guaranteed 50 percent annual return and was protected against loss by an insurance policy that they paid for. The complaint also alleges that Shah and Parekh, who are both licensed insurance agents, falsely told the investor his funds would be invested in international banks that would leverage the principal to generate enormous returns. In reality, the complaint alleges, Shah and Parekh never obtained any insurance to cover the investment principal, and lost nearly the entire $1.5 million when, without accurate disclosure, they invested it in a purported investment management firm based in Cyprus that had promised even more exorbitant returns.

The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, charges Shah, Parekh, and Namah Wealth with 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. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties against all defendants, as well as additional conduct-based injunctions against Shah and Parekh.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Silvana Quintanilla and Jonathan Grant, and supervised by David Zhou and Rebecca Olsen, all of the Division of Enforcement’s Public Finance Abuse Unit. The litigation will be led by Ms. Quintanilla and Mr. Grant.