SEC Charges 3 Foreign Nationals With Deceiving U.S. Investors

(RTTNews) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged three foreign individuals with deceiving U.S. investors, including retirees, through fraudulent, online sales of high-risk securities known as binary options.

According to the SEC, the three foreign nationals - Gil Beserglik, Raz Beserglik and Kai Christian Petersen - deceived U.S. investors, who lost tens of millions of dollars through the fraudulent transactions. Some individual retirees lost their entire savings amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The federal regulator's complaint, filed in the district court of central California, alleges that the three individuals conned investors through three online binary options brokers, Bloombex Options, Morton Finance and Starling Capital, by promising quick profits.

The trio utilized call centers in Germany as well as Israel to persuade investors to open binary option trading accounts and deposit large sums into those accounts.

The employees in these call centers falsely told investors that the brokers earned money only if the investors made money. However, in reality, the brokers earned money only from investor losses and thus had no incentive to advise investors on how to trade binary options profitably.

The brokers also allegedly refused to honor investor requests to withdraw money from their trading accounts.

The agency is seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest, financial penalties and permanent injunctions against all three individuals.

Separately, the SEC said that on October 3, its retail strategy task force will host a roundtable at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., on combating elder investor fraud.

The roundtable will focus on the types of fraudulent and manipulative schemes that currently target elder investors and the potential steps to be taken to combat elder investor fraud.

The SEC also said in a statement said that Quad/Graphics Inc., a Wisconsin-based digital and print marketing provider, has agreed to pay nearly $10 million to settle charges it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act or FCPA by engaging in multiple bribery schemes in Peru and China.

Quad/Graphics has consented to a cease-and-desist order, without admitting or denying the SEC's findings. It has also agreed to self-report on its compliance program for a one-year period.