2023-01-12 sec-litreleases litigation_release 65 KB 1,837 chars

SEC v. Yossi Engel, No. LR-25613, Central District of California (Jan. 12, 2023) — Press Release

raw: Yossi Engel

Yossi Engel, No. 2:23-cv-00213 (Jan. 12, 2023)

Caption
Palmer v. C.R. Bard, Inc.
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summary

The SEC charged Yossi Engel with orchestrating a $47 million affinity fraud targeting the Orthodox Jewish community, seeking an injunction, disgorgement, and civil penalties.

paragraph

Yossi Engel allegedly defrauded at least 29 members of the Orthodox Jewish community of $47 million between December 2018 and January 2020. Through iWitness Tech, LLC, he misrepresented that funds would be used for security equipment and Israeli property development, but instead misappropriated money for personal use and Ponzi-like payments. The SEC has charged Engel with violating antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

narrative

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against Yossi Engel for conducting a $47 million affinity fraud targeting at least 29 members of the Orthodox Jewish community. Operating through his company, iWitness Tech, LLC, Engel allegedly misled investors by claiming funds would be used to purchase security camera equipment and develop real estate in Israel. In reality, Engel misappropriated the investor money for his personal benefit and used funds from new investors to make Ponzi-like payments to earlier participants. The SEC's complaint, filed in the Central District of California, alleges violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1935 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The agency is seeking a permanent injunction, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. The investigation was conducted with the assistance of the Israel Securities Authority.

Enriched metadata

Scheme
affinity-fraud (100%)
Court
Central District of California
Case No.
2:23-cv-00213
Entity
Yossi Engel
Classified affinity-fraud(confidence 100%). EDGAR detection: forms Form D· recall 58% / precision 2%. detection rule →
Statutes
Section 17(a) of the Securities ActSection 10(b) of the Securities Exchange ActRule 10b-5
Parties
PalmerC.R. Bard, Inc.
Keywords
engelyossi engelmembers orthodoxsecurities exchangesecuritiesyossisecperpetrating millionmillion affinityaffinity fraudorthodox jewishjewish communityexchange commissionfunds purchaseinvestor money

Exhibits & Attached Documents (1)

Extracted insights

Dollar amounts 2
  • $47.00M $47 Million $10M–$100M
  • $47.00M $47 million $10M–$100M
Entities 13
  • person civil penalty
  • person Daniel Blau
  • person investor funds
  • person israel securities authority
  • agency Israel Securities Authority
  • organization Israel Securities Authority
  • person orthodox jewish community
  • person permanent injunction
  • agency sec investigation
  • agency Securities and Exchange Commission
  • organization Securities and Exchange Commission
  • person tamar braz
  • person yossi engel
Triples 11
  • Securities And Exchange Commission filed charges Yossi Engel
  • Yossi Engel perpetrated fraud $47 Million Affinity Fraud
  • Yossi Engel targeted Orthodox Jewish Community
  • Yossi Engel induced members of the Orthodox community
  • Yossi Engel misappropriated investor funds
  • Securities And Exchange Commission seeks permanent injunction
  • Securities And Exchange Commission seeks disgorgement with prejudgment interest
  • Securities And Exchange Commission seeks civil penalty
  • Tamar Braz conducted investigation SEC investigation
  • Daniel Blau leads litigation SEC v. Yossi Engel
  • Israel Securities Authority assisted Securities And Exchange Commission
PDF (from attached: complaint)
20(d)(1) and 22(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”), 15 U.S.C. §§ · Source
Text layers
Extracted body text (1,837c) 
SEC Charges Los Angeles Individual with Perpetrating a $47 Million Affinity Fraud Targeting Members of the Orthodox Jewish Community Litigation Release No. 25613 / January 12, 2023 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Yossi Engel, No. 2:23-cv-00213 (C.D. Ca. Jan. 12, 2023) The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it filed charges against Yossi Engel for perpetrating a $47 million affinity fraud from December 2018 to January 2020, targeting at least 29 members of the Orthodox Jewish community. The SEC's complaint alleges that Engel, through his company, iWitness Tech, LLC, initially induced members of the Orthodox community to invest by falsely telling them that he would use their funds to purchase and install security camera equipment. In the second iteration of his scheme, Engel allegedly promised to use investor funds to purchase a property in Israel that he would then develop and sell. As alleged, both of these claims were false: rather than use investor money to purchase cameras or develop property, Engel misappropriated the funds by spending investor money for his personal benefit and making Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors in an attempt to keep the scheme going. The SEC's complaint, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, California, charges Engel with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC seeks a permanent injunction, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Tamar Braz and Dora Zaldivar, and supervised by Marc Blau. The litigation will be led by Daniel Blau and supervised by Gary Leung. The SEC acknowledges the assistance of the Israel Securities Authority. SEC Complaint
OCR text (1,837c · html-text · 99% conf) 
SEC Charges Los Angeles Individual with Perpetrating a $47 Million Affinity Fraud Targeting Members of the Orthodox Jewish Community Litigation Release No. 25613 / January 12, 2023 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Yossi Engel, No. 2:23-cv-00213 (C.D. Ca. Jan. 12, 2023) The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it filed charges against Yossi Engel for perpetrating a $47 million affinity fraud from December 2018 to January 2020, targeting at least 29 members of the Orthodox Jewish community. The SEC's complaint alleges that Engel, through his company, iWitness Tech, LLC, initially induced members of the Orthodox community to invest by falsely telling them that he would use their funds to purchase and install security camera equipment. In the second iteration of his scheme, Engel allegedly promised to use investor funds to purchase a property in Israel that he would then develop and sell. As alleged, both of these claims were false: rather than use investor money to purchase cameras or develop property, Engel misappropriated the funds by spending investor money for his personal benefit and making Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors in an attempt to keep the scheme going. The SEC's complaint, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, California, charges Engel with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC seeks a permanent injunction, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Tamar Braz and Dora Zaldivar, and supervised by Marc Blau. The litigation will be led by Daniel Blau and supervised by Gary Leung. The SEC acknowledges the assistance of the Israel Securities Authority. SEC Complaint

Related documents (1)