From the Securities and Exchange Commission:
Washington, D.C., June 12, 2012 — The Securities and Exchange
Commission today charged 14 sales agents who misled investors and
illegally sold securities for a Long Island-based investment firm at the
center of a $415 million Ponzi scheme.
The SEC alleges that the sales agents — which include four sets of
siblings — falsely promised investor returns as high as 12 to 14 percent
in several weeks when they sold investments offered by Agape World Inc.
They also misled investors to believe that only 1 percent of their
principal was at risk. The Agape securities they peddled were actually
non-existent, and investors were merely lured into a Ponzi scheme where
earlier investors were paid with new investor funds. The sales agents
turned a blind eye to red flags of fraud and sold the investments
without hesitation, receiving more than $52 million in commissions and
payments out of investor funds. None of these sales agents were
registered with the SEC to sell securities, nor were they associated
with a registered broker or dealer. Agape also was not registered with
the SEC.
“This Ponzi scheme spread like wildfire through Long Island’s
middle-class communities because this small group of individuals blindly
promoted the offerings as particularly safe and profitable,” said
Andrew M. Calamari, Acting Regional Director for the SEC’s New York
Regional Office. “These sales agents raked in commissions without
regard for investors or any apparent concern for Agape’s financial
distress and inability to meet investor redemptions.”...MORE
HT: Securities Law Prof
