The Securities and Exchange Commission on March 27, 2023, charged former broker Surage Kamal Roshan Perera and his firm, Janues Capital Incorporated, with defrauding at least one investor out of millions by lying about investment opportunities and strategies, concealing trading losses, and using funds received from others to give the victim the promised returns in Ponzi-like fashion. The SEC has obtained emergency relief in court, including a temporary restraining order and temporary asset freeze.

According to the SEC's complaint, from February 2022 until March 2023, Perera, a Long Island, New York resident, falsely told an investor, not named in the complaint, that Janues had access to specific restricted securities at discounted prices though connections with large, institutional investors. He allegedly claimed to also exercise a trading strategy, which he referred to as 'Options Straddles,' that would not only prevent any trading losses but also guarantee returns on some of the investments of up to 9 percent with the potential for returns of 50 percent. According to the complaint, Perera and Janues used at least $3.57 million of the investor's $4.3 million funds to engage in highly speculative, leveraged trading, and ultimately misappropriated at least $3.3 million. In total, Perera engaged in more than $2.5 billion in securities transactions, with nearly $3 million in trading losses. Perera then allegedly concealed the misappropriation and losses by providing the investor with phony confirmations and account statements that falsely showed the expected returns. The complaint also alleges that Perera further attempted to hide the losses by using funds received from others sources to make Ponzi-like payments to the investor.

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York yesterday announced criminal charges against Perera.

The SEC's complaint alleges that Perera and Janues violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisors Act of 1940. Perera also was charged with aiding and abetting Janues' alleged violations. The SEC's complaint names Nishani Alahakoon, whose brokerage account Perera and Janues traded, as a relief defendant. The temporary asset freeze obtained by the SEC prevents any further dissipation of investor funds. The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest and penalties.

The SEC's continuing investigation is being conducted by Austin Thompson and Christopher Ferrante of the New York Regional Office, and supervised by Hane L. Kim, Chief of the Retail Strategy Task Force, and Tejal Shah of the New York Regional Office. The SEC's litigation against Perera and Janues will be led by Kevin P. McGrath and Mr. Thompson. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.