U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 23251 / May 1, 2015
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Rudolf D. Pameijer, et al., Civil Action No. 1:12-CV-01364 (S.D. Ind.)
Father and Daughter Settle SEC Fraud Charges
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced today that on April 29, 2015, the Honorable Tanya Walton Pratt of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, entered final judgments against Rudolf Pameijer and his daughter Lindsay Sayer, in a fraudulent investment scheme case the SEC filed against Pameijer, Sayer, and others on September 24, 2012. By consent, the Court previously entered judgments enjoining Pameijer and Sayer from future violations of Section 10(b) and 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act), Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act), with the issues relating to monetary relief to be determined by the Court at a later date, and the Commission previously entered an Order barring Pameijer and Sayer from future association with any investment adviser, broker, dealer, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization, and barring them from participating in any offering of a penny stock.
As alleged in the complaint in this case, co-defendant Ryan Koester, who previously settled with the SEC, held himself out as an expert foreign currency trader, and falsely represented to investors that his unique trading strategy offered investors a principal guaranteed investment opportunity. As alleged in the complaint, Koester and Pameijer, a career insurance salesman, agreed to a profit sharing arrangement for clients Pameijer brought to Koester and his entity, Rykoworks Capital Group, LLC. The complaint alleges that, starting in 2010, Pameijer and his daughter, Sayer, began soliciting clients to invest with Rykoworks through promissory notes which purported to guarantee investor principal while offering risk free returns from forex trading. As alleged in the complaint, Pameijer and Sayer misappropriated the majority of funds they raised from investors for personal use, and the remaining funds they transferred to Koester, Koester depleted through trading losses and misappropriation.
To resolve the remaining monetary claims, Pameijer consented to a final judgment ordering disgorgement of $1,226,703 and prejudgment interest of $217,826, with the disgorgement obligation offset, and no civil penalty imposed, in light of Pameijer's sentence in a related state criminal case. In that case, Indiana v. Rudolf Pameijer, Crim. No. 41C01-1205-FB-00029 (Johnson Circuit Court), Pameijer pled guilty to state criminal charges and, on June 9, 2014, the court sentenced Pameijer to eighteen years in prison and ordered him to pay restitution of $1,819,194. Sayer consented to a final judgment ordering disgorgement of $90,822 and prejudgment interest of $17,211, which is waived, and no penalty imposed, based on Sayer's financial condition. The final judgments entered against Pameijer and Sayer conclude this litigation.
The SEC thanks the Indiana Division of Securities for its assistance in this matter.
For additional information, see Litigation Release Nos. 22492 (September 24, 2012) and 23060 (August 7, 2014).