Notable litigation filed during August 2024 includes: (1) Garcia, et al. v. Jazzberry Digital Solutions, Inc., et al., No. 30-2024-01419250 (Cal. Super. Ct.); (2) Dottore v. Scheibal Property Development, Inc., No. cv-2024-08-08-3519 (Ohio Ct. Comm. Pl.); and (3) SEC v. Mendia-Alcaraz, et al., No. 24-cv-5823 (N.D. Cal.).
Securities Act
Notable Litigation – February 2023
Notable litigation filed during February 2023 includes: (1) Tell v. Modica Microindustries, Inc. and (2) Pelham v. VBit Technologies Corp., et al.
New Complaint – SEC v. Alexandra Robert, et al.
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Alexandra Robert et al. was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on July 26, 2022, claiming violations of several provisions of the Securities Act and Securities Exchange Act. Specifically, the SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief against all Defendants in order to prevent future violations of the federal securities laws, disgorgement of any ill-gotten gains, and civil damages.
The SEC brought this action against Defendants Alexandra Robert (“Robert”), the owner, founder, and CEO of Defendants Chalala Academy LLC (“Chalala”), a Florida limited liability company, and Lendvesting Academy Corp. (“Lendvesting”), a Florida-registered corporation formerly operating as a d/b/a of Chalala.
The complaint alleges from at least May 2020 through August 2021, Defendants fraudulently raised approximately $900,000 from roughly 80 investors, mostly Haitian and Haitian-Americans living in South Florida, by offering unregistered “investment programs” falsely promising guaranteed returns of up to 48%. Defendants falsely told investors that they would make interest generating loans to small businesses that would otherwise not qualify for traditional financing, thereby providing investors with high fixed returns.
Continue Reading… New Complaint – SEC v. Alexandra Robert, et al.
New Complaint – SEC v. Horwitz
The SEC filed SEC v. Horwitz in the Central District of California on April 5, 2021, alleging that Defendant Horowitz violated federal securities laws in connection with fraudulent promissory notes issued by Horwitz’s company. Specifically, the complaint alleges violations of Sections 17(a) of the Securities Act, 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act, and 10b-5 of the Exchange Act Rules.
Defendant Horwitz was the owner and operator of Defendant 1inMM, which purported to be a company in the business of obtaining distribution rights to certain movies in order to license those rights to media companies like Netflix and HBO.