The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has won a restraining order against a man it alleges has been defrauding investors in Canada, the United States and Australia.

The SEC filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana against Harral Dunbar Jr. and Ghost International, an Internet Web site operation. Judge Frank Polozola issued a temporary restraining order, an order freezing assets and, among other things, an order expediting discovery.

The complaint alleges that Dunbar, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana owned the Ghost International Web site and used it to solicit investors for investment contracts by promises of inordinate amounts of guaranteed returns and promises of no-risk investing. The complaint also alleges that investors have received little or no return despite several months of promises by Dunbar that returns would be paid.

The complaint alleges that between mid 2001 and the present, Dunbar obtained over US$7,500 from 11 investors in Canada, Australia and the U.S. by touting Ghost International’s “private contribution and investment program” which allegedly paid, for example, US$100,000 on a US$200 investment over a few weeks.

Dunbar made various promises of returns including ones up to 1,000%. Dunbar made various representations to fraudulently induce investors including that his company dealt in “high yield investments” and that funds were to be placed in offshore bank accounts, which would pay promised returns for five months of a supposed seven-month program. The complaint also alleges that Dunbar lulled investors by making promises that payments would be made shortly. However, when the time elapsed, the promised payments were not forthcoming.

The SEC seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions against Dunbar as well as an order compelling disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, along with prejudgment interest and civil penalties.