Three former sales reps for a massive Ponzi scheme that raised over US$1.2 billion from investors have now been banned for just a year in settlements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In 2020, the SEC filed charges against three former sales reps for Woodbridge Group of Companies LLC — Brook Church-Koegel, David Goldman and Nicole Walker — alleging that they violated securities law by selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of unregistered securities to retail investors.
Specifically, the SEC alleged that, between June 2014 to December 2017, the trio were among the scheme’s top-producing sales agents in pitching unregistered securities to elderly investors, generating significant compensation for themselves from the unlawful sales — US$1 million each for Church-Koegel and Goldman, and more than US$750,000 for Walker.
The SEC’s complaint sought disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest and civil penalties against each of them.
However, the regulator has now settled for resolutions that involve no monetary sanctions, and impose one-year bans from association with any broker, dealer or other registered firm, on each of them.
Back in 2024, the U.S. district court for the Central District of California entered final judgment against each of the reps that imposed permanent injunctions from future violations.
They consented to the orders, without admitting or denying any of the commission’s allegations, which also didn’t include any findings of fraud or willful misconduct by the reps.
In 2019, a U.S. district court in Florida ordered US$892 million in disgorgement against the Woodbridge companies, and imposed a US$100-million penalty against the scheme’s mastermind, Robert Shapiro, along with US$20.6 million in disgorgement and interest. Shapiro was also permanently banned.