Forex News
SEC Charges Spaventa, Entities in $74M Pre-IPO Fraud
Eleven pre-IPO funds took in upward of $74 million from an investor base above 800 before regulators moved.
Detail
The SEC's case names Andrew Spaventa plus three entities on fraud and further counts. Fraud and other violations are the counts regulators brought against Spaventa, a New Yorker, together with three entities.
A window running from roughly December 2020 to June 2025 frames the conduct at issue. Reaching investors ran through a salesforce topping 100, aimed at prospective buyers numbering in the thousands, retirees prominent among them.
At the centre sits how the shares moved: Spaventa is alleged to have bought pre-IPO stock outright or via a separate investment fund, then sold it into his own funds as principal at raised prices. Roughly 46% above his own cost is what buyers ended up paying.
Those uplifts reached investors disguised, billed as hidden fees on sales of membership interests. On fees the pitch was zero upfront, or 12.5% as a ceiling.
Against that, some $23 million in upfront fees was taken in. Commissions exceeding $12 million went to the sales agents, while about $4 million landed with Spaventa himself.
Southern District of New York is where the complaint landed. The counts run to the antifraud, securities registration, and broker-dealer registration provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
Control person liability and aiding and abetting violations attach to Spaventa on top. Sought against every defendant: permanent injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and prejudgment interest, and civil penalties, with conduct-based injunctions directed at Spaventa.
Release 2026-75 carried the announcement, dated Aug. 14, 2026.