The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against a California-based individual, John Marques, and a company he controlled and operated, for various registration violations in connection with their unlawful sales of securities of real estate funds to retail investors.

According to the SEC's complaint, between approximately August 2016 and February 2020, Marques and his company, Lifeline Innovations & Insurance Solutions LLC, sold approximately $7.9 million of securities of funds managed by Florida-based EquiAlt LLC to more than 50 retail investors located in California and Washington State. The complaint further alleges that Marques, through Lifeline Innovations, received approximately $824,000 in commissions from EquiAlt, even though neither Marques nor Lifeline Innovations was registered as a broker-dealer or associated with a registered broker-dealer. The SEC previously filed an enforcement action against EquiAlt, EquiAlt's CEO, EquiAlt's Managing Director, and entities they control, alleging that they fraudulently raised millions of dollars by making material misrepresentations to investors about EquiAlt's investment strategy, the financial condition of the investments, and the uses of investor proceeds. The SEC also previously charged five of EquiAlt's top sales agents with various registration violations.

The SEC's complaint, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, charges Marques and Lifeline Innovations with violating the securities registration provisions of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 and the broker-dealer registration provisions of Section 15(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint seeks an order permanently enjoining Marques and Lifeline Innovations from violating the charged provisions and requiring them to pay disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest and civil penalties.

The SEC's continuing investigation is being conducted by Andre J. Zamorano, with assistance from Mark Dee, and supervised by Thierry Olivier Desmet and Glenn S. Gordon of the Miami Regional Office. The SEC's litigation is being led by Alise Johnson and supervised by Andrew O. Schiff. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Arizona Corporation Commission.

The SEC encourages investors to check the backgrounds of people selling investments by using the SEC's Investor.gov to quickly confirm whether they are registered professionals.