The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has secured a final judgment against the operator of a Ponzi scheme, who’s currently doing time on a related criminal conviction.
The U.S. district court for the Southern District of Florida entered a final judgment against Henry Abdo — who the SEC accused of operating a Ponzi scheme through his company, Titanium Capital LLC — holding him jointly liable (with his company) for US$2.9 million in disgorgement and almost US$500,000 in prejudgment interest.
Last year, Abdo was sentenced to 168 months in prison, ordered to pay US$375,479 in restitution, and a fine of US$300,000 after pleading guilty to wire fraud for orchestrating an investment scam that took in over US$6 million from investors, promising high returns with no risk.
In its complaint, which was filed in 2023, the SEC alleged that Abdo and Titanium raised millions from investors with false promises that they would receive double-digit returns from their investment fund. Investors were told that the fund would generate guaranteed profits from fees on foreign exchange transactions, with no risk of loss, the SEC said.
In fact, the SEC alleged that almost all of investors’ money was used to make payments to other investors, to pay commissions to the scheme’s promoters, and for other purposes.
The financial sanctions ordered in the SEC’s case are to be offset against the restitution that was ordered in the criminal case.