Three New Yorkers charged in pre-IPO fraud scheme

Three New Yorkers have been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of running fraud scheme concerning pre-IPO investments just months after they were shut down for doing the same thing under a different name.

The SEC alleges that New York residents Mario Gogliormella, Steven Lacaj, and Karim Ibrahim operated a boiler room operation of unregistered sales agents to pressure investors into purchasing shares in companies before their IPOs that were marked up between 19 and 105 percent. As a result, the SEC said, the defendants and their sales force allegedly pocketed more than $45 million in fees between 2019 and 2022. The SEC also charged Ibrahim’s brother, Adam Ibrahim, as a relief defendant.

The SEC said the defendants operated first at StraightPath Venture Partners, LLC. The commission shut that organization down in May 2022. By June 2023, the defendants had started a second company, Legend Venture Partners, LLC, which became came under an emergency action by the commission in June 2023. The SEC said both companies are now under court-ordered receiverships.

“We allege that the fraud in this case is like a Hollywood movie where the defendants ran boiler rooms using scripts they referred to as the ‘Bible,’ engaged in high-pressure sales tactics, and employed outright falsehoods to defraud investors,” Sheldon L. Pollock, associate director of the New York Regional Office of the SEC said. “After the SEC shut them down the first time, they simply rebranded their outfit, and today through our action we are seeking to ensure that they are held accountable for enticing and lying to investors.”

The defendants were charged with violating antifraud and other federal securities law provisions. The commission is seeking permanent injunctive relief, return of allegedly ill-gotten gains and civil penalties. The defendants also face indictments from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for securities fraud, among other offenses, for their work with StraightPath and Legend.

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