The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Ann M. Vick with fraudulently raising approximately $3.2 million from nearly two dozen investors for AMV Investments LLC, a pooled investment fund of which she is the sole owner.

The SEC's complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, alleges that from August 2018 through January 2021, Vick represented herself to investors as a consistently successful options trader and promised investors exorbitant investment returns. As alleged, however, Vick's options trading resulted in a volatile mix of gains and losses, and she had never generated the consistent profits necessary to pay investors the returns she promised. According to the complaint, after suffering significant trading losses in early 2020, Vick began making Ponzi-like payments to investors and misappropriated approximately $570,150 of investor funds.

The SEC's complaint charges Vick with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1), 206(2), and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-8 thereunder. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty.

Without admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC's complaint, Vick has consented to the entry of a judgment that permanently enjoins her from future violations of the charged provisions and from participating in the offer or sale of any securities, and requires her to pay disgorgement of $570,150 together with prejudgment interest thereon in the amount of $27,929, and to pay a civil penalty of $570,150. Vick also agreed to be prohibited from acting as an officer or director of any public company. The settlement is subject to court approval.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Jacqueline M. Moessner, Michael F. D'Angelo, and Brian Shute, and supervised by Mary S. Brady and Jason J. Burt. The litigation will be led by Zachary T. Carlyle and supervised by Gregory A. Kasper.