U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 21864 / February 22, 2011
SEC v. Secure Capital Funding Corporation, Bertram A. Hill, PP&M Trade Partners, and Kiavanni Pringle, No. 3:11-cv-00916-AET (D.N.J.)
SEC Files Action to Halt International Investment Scheme and Obtains Emergency Asset Freeze and Repatriation Order
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on Friday February 18, 2011, it filed an emergency action in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against Secure Capital Funding Corporation, Bertram A. Hill, PP&M Trade Partners, and Kiavanni Pringle, to halt an alleged multi-million dollar international investment scheme that has defrauded investors in the United States and overseas. The Court issued a temporary restraining order freezing assets and ordering repatriation of investor funds.
The SEC's complaint in SEC v. Secure Capital Funding Corp. et al., No. 3:11-cv-00916-AET (D.N.J.), filed in Trenton, New Jersey, alleged that in recent months defendants Secure Capital Funding Corporation, Bertram A. Hill, PP&M Trade Star Partners, and Kiavanni L. Pringle, defrauded investors of millions of dollars through the sale of fictitious Swiss "debentures." According to the SEC's complaint, defendants told investors that these securities were "risk-free" and would be used to establish highly leveraged margin accounts to trade other securities, and that investors would earn monthly returns of 10-100%. In reality, according to the SEC, these securities were fictitious and nearly $3 million of investor funds were quickly wired out of the country to accounts in Latvia and Jamaica.
The Honorable Anne E. Thompson, U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey, granted the SEC's motion for a temporary restraining order freezing assets, ordering repatriation of investor funds, ordering expedited discovery, and scheduling a hearing for February 28, 2011.
The SEC's complaint alleges that defendants Secure Capital Funding Corporation, Bertram A. Hill, PP&M Partners, and Kiavanni Pringle violated 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 to the emergency relief granted by the Court, the SEC seeks in this action permanent injunctions, disgorgement, and civil penalties against each of the defendants.
The SEC's investigation is continuing.