South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog
SEC Files Civil Injunctive Action Against Alleged Perpetrator and Unregistered Broker in Fraudulent Promissory Note Offering
Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil injunctive action in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado against Brian G. Elrod for allegedly conducting a fraudulent offering of promissory notes for which Nova Dean Pack acted as an unregistered broker. Elrod and Pack reside in Buffalo Creek, Colorado and Highland, California, respectively.
The Complaint alleges that, from at least March 2009 through November 2009, Elrod and Pack raised approximately $2 million from 12 investors who invested in high-yield promissory notes issued by CFS Holding Company LLC (“CFS”), a Colorado company owned and managed by Elrod. According to the Complaint, Elrod told investors that their investments were secured and guaranteed and would generate annual returns ranging from 12% to 24%. According to the Complaint, Elrod further represented to investors that the proceeds from their promissory notes would be used to expand a group of financial services companies owned and managed by Elrod. The Complaint alleges that the foregoing representations, among others, were false and misleading when made, and that Elrod, rather than use investor money for legitimate business purposes, improperly used most of the investor funds to make substantial payments to himself and family members and to pay for personal expenses, to pay Pack significant commissions for referring investors, and to make interest payments back to investors. According to the Complaint, the CFS note offering was not registered with the Commission, and Pack was not an associated person of a registered broker or dealer at the time he participated in the CFS note offering.
Without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, Elrod and Pack agreed to settle the case against them. The settlement is pending final approval by the court. Specifically, Elrod consented to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining him from future violations of Sections 5 and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and requiring him to pay disgorgement of $1,720,491, the amount of his ill-gotten gains, plus prejudgment interest of $295,817, and a civil penalty of $1,720,491. Pack consented to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining him from future violations of Section 5 of the Securities Act and Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act, and ordering disgorgement of $171,500 plus prejudgment interest of $25,177, but waiving payment and not imposing a civil penalty based upon his financial condition.
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