SEC v. Calvin Guess; Marcus Ligon; and 5 Fruits Enterprises LLC, No. LR-26390, District of Nevada (Sept. 5, 2025) — Press Release

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26390 / September 5, 2025 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Calvin Guess, et al.; No. 25-civ-01655 (D. Nev. filed Sept. 4, 2025) SEC Settles with Las Vegas Residents and their Company in a Multimillion Dollar Investment Fraud Scheme On September 4, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Las Vegas residents Calvin Guess and Marcus Ligon, along with their now defunct investing entity, 5 Fruits Enterprises LLC, with a scheme to defraud investors through false claims about 5 Fruits’ use of automated “bots” in trading securities. According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, from 2021 through 2023, Guess, Ligon, and 5 Fruits raised over $4.7 million from more than 140 investors by claiming that they would profitably invest their money using automated trading bots to execute options trading algorithms. As alleged in the SEC’s complaint, Guess and Ligon promised incredible returns and directed the creation and distribution of fake account statements to make it appear the supposedly invested funds were growing. In reality, the SEC’s complaint alleges, Guess and Ligon misappropriated most of the money to pay their personal expenses and used about $1 million of investor funds to make Ponzi-like payments to other investors. The SEC's complaint charges Guess, Ligon, and 5 Fruits with violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC's complaint, Guess, Ligon, and 5 Fruits each consented to the entry of a final judgment, subject to court approval, which would permanently enjoin them from violating the charged provisions. The final judgment, if approved, also would hold them jointly and severally liable for payment of $1,156,166.13 in disgorgement, plus $253,048.11 in prejudgment interest; order Guess and Ligon to each pay a $236,451 civil penalty, and order 5 Fruits to pay a $1,182,251 civil penalty; hold Guess liable for an additional payment of $839,272.95 in disgorgement, plus $161,148.29 in prejudgment interest; hold Ligon liable for an additional payment of $1,035,527.11 in disgorgement, plus $198,081.95 in prejudgment interest; and impose a conduct-based injunction on Guess and Ligon prohibiting them from participating in securities offerings and from accepting investor funds. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Yolanda Ochoa, Bianca Cadena, and Dora Zaldivar, and supervised by Finola H. Manvelian, all of the Los Angeles Regional Office. Daniel S. Lim will lead the SEC’s litigation under the supervision of Douglas M. Miller.

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26390 / September 5, 2025 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Calvin Guess, et al.; No. 25-civ-01655 (D. Nev. filed Sept. 4, 2025) SEC Settles with Las Vegas Residents and their Company in a Multimillion Dollar Investment Fraud Scheme On September 4, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Las Vegas residents Calvin Guess and Marcus Ligon, along with their now defunct investing entity, 5 Fruits Enterprises LLC, with a scheme to defraud investors through false claims about 5 Fruits’ use of automated “bots” in trading securities. According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, from 2021 through 2023, Guess, Ligon, and 5 Fruits raised over $4.7 million from more than 140 investors by claiming that they would profitably invest their money using automated trading bots to execute options trading algorithms. As alleged in the SEC’s complaint, Guess and Ligon promised incredible returns and directed the creation and distribution of fake account statements to make it appear the supposedly invested funds were growing. In reality, the SEC’s complaint alleges, Guess and Ligon misappropriated most of the money to pay their personal expenses and used about $1 million of investor funds to make Ponzi-like payments to other investors. The SEC's complaint charges Guess, Ligon, and 5 Fruits with violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC's complaint, Guess, Ligon, and 5 Fruits each consented to the entry of a final judgment, subject to court approval, which would permanently enjoin them from violating the charged provisions. The final judgment, if approved, also would hold them jointly and severally liable for payment of $1,156,166.13 in disgorgement, plus $253,048.11 in prejudgment interest; order Guess and Ligon to each pay a $236,451 civil penalty, and order 5 Fruits to pay a $1,182,251 civil penalty; hold Guess liable for an additional payment of $839,272.95 in disgorgement, plus $161,148.29 in prejudgment interest; hold Ligon liable for an additional payment of $1,035,527.11 in disgorgement, plus $198,081.95 in prejudgment interest; and impose a conduct-based injunction on Guess and Ligon prohibiting them from participating in securities offerings and from accepting investor funds. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Yolanda Ochoa, Bianca Cadena, and Dora Zaldivar, and supervised by Finola H. Manvelian, all of the Los Angeles Regional Office. Daniel S. Lim will lead the SEC’s litigation under the supervision of Douglas M. Miller.