U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Litigation Release No. 26520, dated April 3, 2026.
The SEC charged an investment adviser and its principals for allegedly defrauding clients out of $138 million. They falsely marketed high-risk private equity funds as safe investments, with four funds investing in a mining venture and one in a coffee shop owned by a principal's son. The defendants allegedly failed to disclose conflicts of interest and misappropriated client funds.
Imagine you have a financial helper who manages your savings. This helper told you that investing in certain special funds was very safe, like putting money in a piggy bank that would grow steadily. But, the helper actually put your money into very risky things: one fund went into a risky mining business, and another went into a new coffee shop run by their kid. They didn't tell you about these risks or that they were getting paid extra for these investments. Some people lost all their savings because these risky ventures failed.
Disclaimer: all facts are drawn from the SEC's own filings; the claims described are allegations unless and until a court rules or the parties settle, and some cases end in dismissal.
On April 3, 2026, the SEC charged registered investment adviser A.G. Morgan Financial Advisors, LLC and its principals, Vincent J. Camarda and James E. McArthur, with allegedly perpetrating an offering fraud that raised at least $138 million from at least 431 investors. The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleges that from approximately June 2020 through at least December 2023, Defendants fraudulently induced their advisory clients, many of whom were elderly and financially unsophisticated, to purchase securities in the form of promissory notes issued by five high-risk private equity funds that Camarda and McArthur created, managed, and owned. The complaint alleges that four of the funds invested entirely in a high-risk mining venture and the fifth invested entirely in a start-up coffee shop company operated by Camarda’s son. The complaint further alleges that Defendants failed to disclose their substantial conflicts of interest and that Camarda is alleged to have misappropriated approximately $1 million of client money. The SEC’s complaint charges Defendants with violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties against all Defendants, as well as conduct-based injunctions against Camarda and McArthur. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced criminal charges against Camarda.