U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 26009 / May 22, 2024
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ganesh H. Betanabhatla, No. 8:24-cv-00184 (D. Neb. filed May 22, 2024)
SEC Charges Former Fund Manager with Defrauding Two SPACs and a Private Issuer
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Ganesh H. Betanabhatla, who previously managed private equity funds through his now-defunct Houston-based firm, Ramas Capital Management, LLC, has agreed to settle charges that he defrauded three issuers by committing to purchase $263.5 million of their securities on behalf of investment funds he managed when he and the funds did not have the money to invest.
According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the United Stated District Court for the District of Nebraska, Betanabhatla hid the fact that the funds he claimed to manage had no money to invest by falsifying key documents and emails that he provided to the issuers, and lying to one issuer about having $500 million to invest. The SEC alleges that none of the $263.5 million in commitments that Betanabhatla made was funded, leaving the issuers to fill the gap in capital they thought they had secured. As alleged, two of the issuers that Betanabhatla defrauded were special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, and the third was a private company.
Betanabhatla, without admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC’s complaint, consented to the entry of a final judgment, subject to court approval, that would permanently enjoin him from violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, order him to pay a $250,000 civil penalty, and impose a five-year officer-and-director bar on him.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Robert J. Durham and Brian A. Huchro, under the supervision of Jeremy E. Pendrey and Jason H. Lee, all of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office.