SEC Brings Additional Charges in New York Boiler Room Scheme Targeting Seniors
Christian Romandetti, CEO of First Choice Healthcare Solutions, and four others orchestrated a microcap stock fraud scheme that inflated the company’s share price from under $1 to $3.40, generating $3.3 million in illegal profits and $560,000 in kickbacks to Romandetti by manipulating trades and using a boiler room to pressure over 100 vulnerable investors, leading to SEC civil charges and parallel criminal charges by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The SEC charged Christian Romandetti, CEO of First Choice Healthcare Solutions Inc., along with Anthony Vassallo, Mark Burnett, Jeffrey Miller, and Frank Sarro, with securities fraud and market manipulation for artificially inflating the company’s stock price from under $1 to $3.40 between September 2013 and June 2016. The scheme generated over $3.3 million in illegal profits, with $560,000 in kickbacks paid to Romandetti, and targeted more than 100 investors—many of whom were elderly or retired—using disguised trading accounts and high-pressure cold calls via Vassallo’s boiler room, Elite Stock Research. The SEC seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with interest, civil penalties, permanent injunctions, and bans from the penny stock market and corporate leadership, while the U.S. Attorney’s Office has filed parallel criminal charges against Romandetti, Burnett, Miller, and Sarro.
Christian Romandetti, CEO of First Choice Healthcare Solutions Inc., and four associates—including boiler room operator Anthony Vassallo, Mark Burnett, Jeffrey Miller, and Frank Sarro—were charged by the SEC with orchestrating a microcap stock fraud scheme that artificially inflated the company’s share price from under $1 to $3.40 between September 2013 and June 2016. Using multiple disguised trading accounts and manipulative trading practices, the defendants generated over $3.3 million in illegal profits, with $560,000 in kickbacks funneled to Romandetti, while Vassallo’s Elite Stock Research used unsolicited, high-pressure cold calls to deceive more than 100 vulnerable investors, many of whom invested retirement savings. The SEC’s complaint highlights that the scheme exploited the trust of unsophisticated retail investors, a pattern consistent with prior misconduct by Elite Stock Research, which was previously charged in July 2017 in connection with a separate $10 million penny stock scam involving 13 individuals. In parallel, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York filed criminal charges against Romandetti, Burnett, Miller, and Sarro, while seven individuals from the earlier case have already pleaded guilty. The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, disgorgement of all ill-gotten gains with interest, civil penalties, and lifetime bans from participating in the penny stock market or serving as corporate officers or directors. The investigation, led by SEC attorneys James Smith and Matthew Scarlato and supervised by Carolyn Welshhans and Amy Friedman, received critical support from the FBI, FINRA, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, underscoring the coordinated effort to combat microcap fraud. The SEC continues to urge investors to verify broker credentials via Investor.gov to avoid similar scams.
Exhibits & Attached Documents (1)
Extracted insights
- $10.00M $10 million $10M–$100M
- $3.30M $3.3 million $1M–$10M
- $560K $560,000 $100K–$1M
- scheme_term $560,000 in kickbacks
- person anthony vassallo
- person christian romandetti
- person elite stock research
- scheme_term elite stock research, another long island boiler room, and 13 individuals
- company first choice healthcare solutions inc.
- agency sec investigation
- agency sec litigation
- agency Securities and Exchange Commission
- agency u.s. attorney's office for eastern district of new york
- SEC brought charges against First Choice Healthcare Solutions Inc., Christian Romandetti, and four others
- Christian Romandetti is CEO of First Choice Healthcare Solutions Inc.
- Christian Romandetti generated $3.3 million in illegal profits
- Christian Romandetti received $560,000 in kickbacks
- Defendants manipulated First Choice Healthcare Solutions Inc. shares
- Defendants inflated stock price from less than $1 per share to $3.40 per share
- Defendants defrauded more than 100 victims
- Scheme occurred from September 2013 to June 2016
- Anthony Vassallo runs Elite Stock Research
- Elite Stock Research promoted First Choice Healthcare Solutions Inc. to vulnerable investors
- SEC charged Elite Stock Research, another Long Island boiler room, and 13 individuals
- Elite Stock Research and co-defendants bilked victims out of $10 million
- Seven individuals pleaded guilty to parallel criminal charges by U.S. Attorney's Office for Eastern District of New York
- SEC charges with fraud Christian Romandetti, Anthony Vassallo, Mark Burnett, Jeffrey Miller, Frank Sarro, Elite Stock Research
- SEC charges with market manipulation Mark Burnett, Jeffrey Miller, Frank Sarro, Anthony Vassallo
- U.S. Attorney's Office for Eastern District of New York announced parallel criminal charges against Christian Romandetti, Mark Burnett, Jeffrey Miller, Frank Sarro
- SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, return of ill-gotten gains, civil penalties, penny stock bars, officer-and-director bars
- SEC investigation conducted by Cecilia B. Connor and Andrew Elliott
- SEC litigation handled by James Smith and Matthew Scarlato
The Securities and Exchange Commission today brought additional charges against a Long Island, New York-based boiler room previously sued for defrauding elderly and unsophisticated investors. The latest charges allege that First Choice Healthcare Solutions Inc. CEO Christian Romandetti, the boiler room, and four others, manipulated the company’s shares generating more than $3.3 million of illegal profits and more than $560,000 in kickbacks for Romandetti. The SEC’s complaint alleges that Romandetti and the other defendants duped more than 100 victims in a scheme that inflated First Choice’s stock price from less than $1 per share to $3.40 per share. According to the complaint, from at least September 2013 until about June 2016, the defendants used multiple accounts in an attempt to disguise their trading, engaged in manipulative trading practices, and hired Elite Stock Research, a boiler room run by defendant Anthony Vassallo, to promote First Choice to vulnerable investors, some of who invested retirement savings. “Microcap fraud continues to be a pervasive source of harm to retail investors,” said Carolyn M. Welshhans, Associate Director of the Division of Enforcement. “Investors should be on the lookout for individuals employing methods like the ones we allege in our complaint—such as using unsolicited calls and high-pressure sales tactics.” In a related action in July 2017, the SEC originally charged boiler room Elite Stock Research, as well as another Long Island boiler room and 13 individuals, with bilking victims out of more than $10 million through high-pressure sales tactics and lies about penny stocks. Seven of those individuals have pleaded guilty to parallel criminal charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. The SEC’s litigation against the 13 individuals is continuing. Today’s SEC action, filed in federal district court in Central Islip, New York, charges Romandetti, Vassallo, Mark Burnett, Jeffrey Miller, Frank Sarro and Elite Stock Research with fraud and Burnett, Miller, Sarro, and Vassallo with market manipulation. The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, return of allegedly ill-gotten gains with interest, civil penalties, penny stock bars, and officer-and-director bars against Romandetti and Burnett. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced parallel criminal charges against Romandetti, Burnett, Miller, and Sarro. The SEC encourages investors to check the backgrounds of people selling them investments by using the SEC’s Investor.gov website to quickly identify whether they are registered professionals. The SEC’s continuing investigation is being conducted by Cecilia B. Connor and Andrew Elliott and supervised by Ms. Welshhans and Amy L. Friedman, with assistance from Leigh Barrett. The SEC’s litigation will be handled by James Smith and Matthew Scarlato and supervised by Jan Folena. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today brought additional charges against a Long Island, New York-based boiler room previously sued for defrauding elderly and unsophisticated investors. The latest charges allege that First Choice Healthcare Solutions Inc. CEO Christian Romandetti, the boiler room, and four others, manipulated the company’s shares generating more than $3.3 million of illegal profits and more than $560,000 in kickbacks for Romandetti. The SEC’s complaint alleges that Romandetti and the other defendants duped more than 100 victims in a scheme that inflated First Choice’s stock price from less than $1 per share to $3.40 per share. According to the complaint, from at least September 2013 until about June 2016, the defendants used multiple accounts in an attempt to disguise their trading, engaged in manipulative trading practices, and hired Elite Stock Research, a boiler room run by defendant Anthony Vassallo, to promote First Choice to vulnerable investors, some of who invested retirement savings. “Microcap fraud continues to be a pervasive source of harm to retail investors,” said Carolyn M. Welshhans, Associate Director of the Division of Enforcement. “Investors should be on the lookout for individuals employing methods like the ones we allege in our complaint—such as using unsolicited calls and high-pressure sales tactics.” In a related action in July 2017, the SEC originally charged boiler room Elite Stock Research, as well as another Long Island boiler room and 13 individuals, with bilking victims out of more than $10 million through high-pressure sales tactics and lies about penny stocks. Seven of those individuals have pleaded guilty to parallel criminal charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. The SEC’s litigation against the 13 individuals is continuing. Today’s SEC action, filed in federal district court in Central Islip, New York, charges Romandetti, Vassallo, Mark Burnett, Jeffrey Miller, Frank Sarro and Elite Stock Research with fraud and Burnett, Miller, Sarro, and Vassallo with market manipulation. The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, return of allegedly ill-gotten gains with interest, civil penalties, penny stock bars, and officer-and-director bars against Romandetti and Burnett. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced parallel criminal charges against Romandetti, Burnett, Miller, and Sarro. The SEC encourages investors to check the backgrounds of people selling them investments by using the SEC’s Investor.gov website to quickly identify whether they are registered professionals. The SEC’s continuing investigation is being conducted by Cecilia B. Connor and Andrew Elliott and supervised by Ms. Welshhans and Amy L. Friedman, with assistance from Leigh Barrett. The SEC’s litigation will be handled by James Smith and Matthew Scarlato and supervised by Jan Folena. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.