SEC Charges Three with Affinity Fraud Targeting Haitian-Americans
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged HomePals Investment Club, LLC and HomePals, LLC (together, “HomePals”), and their principals, Ronnie Eugene Bass, Jr., Abner Alabre and Brian J. Taglieri with operating a $14.3 million Ponzi scheme aimed at fleecing members of the Haitian-American community in south Florida. The SEC’s litigation release regarding the case reads, in part:
[F]rom April 2008 through December 2008, the defendants raised at least $14.3 million through the sale of unsecured notes to hundreds of Haitian-American investors by promising guaranteed returns of 100% every 90 days. The defendants claimed they were able to generate such spectacular returns through Bass’ purported successful trading of stock options and commodities. The SEC’s complaint further alleges that, in reality, Bass traded no more than $1.2 million of the $14.3 million raised, generated trading losses of 19 percent, and that HomePals used the bulk of the investor funds to repay earlier investors in typical Ponzi scheme fashion. The SEC also alleges that Bass, Alabre and Taglieri misappropriated at least $668,000 of investor funds for personal use.
Affinity fraud is rampant. Whether it be an ethnic minority or the faithful of a particular church, scam artists worm their way into the group, often identifying themselves as a member, and use the trust that flows from their common background to fleece the group. If anyone uses your faith or your membership in any identifiable group as part of a sales pitch, walk the other way and call the SEC. If you are seriously considering investing in such an investment, get a professional investigation.When Investor’s Watchdog comes across a scam - and it frequently does - it not only warns its customer away from it, but calls the SEC or state regulators so that they can shut it down before it ensnares hundreds more victims and millions more in retirement savings. Tens of thousands of senior citizens are now starting over at zero because they thought they chose not to get such an investigation.
