SEC v. Premier Links, Inc.; Dwayne Malloy; Chris Damon; and Theirry Ruffin, No. LR-23163, Eastern District of New York (Dec. 19, 2014) — Press Release
raw: Premier Links, Inc., et al.
Premier Links, Inc., et al., No. LR-23163 (Dec. 19, 2014)
Premier Links, Inc
Premier Links, Inc., its former president Dwayne Malloy, and sales representatives Chris Damon and Theirry Ruffin are accused of operating a boiler room scheme targeting seniors, fraudulently obtaining at least $9 million from over 300 investors. The alleged fraud involved using high-pressure sales tactics to convince seniors to invest in speculative start-up companies, diverting investor funds to other entities controlled by the sales representatives or associates. The defendants are charged with violating antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as well as broker-dealer registration provisions. The outcome is pending, with the SEC seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and financial penalties, and a parallel criminal action filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.
Premier Links, Inc., its former president Dwayne Malloy, and sales representatives Chris Damon and Theirry Ruffin are accused of operating a boiler room scheme targeting seniors, fraudulently obtaining at least $9 million from over 300 investors. The alleged fraud involved using high-pressure sales tactics to convince seniors to invest in speculative start-up companies, diverting investor funds to other entities controlled by the sales representatives or associates. The defendants are charged with violating antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as well as broker-dealer registration provisions. The outcome is pending, with the SEC seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and financial penalties, and a parallel criminal action filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Staten Island-based Premier Links, Inc., its former president Dwayne Malloy, and sales representatives Chris Damon and Theirry Ruffin with operating an unregistered boiler room scheme that defrauded over 300 senior investors out of at least $9 million. The defendants allegedly used high-pressure tactics to convince vulnerable seniors to invest in speculative start-ups, diverting funds to entities they controlled while providing misleading account statements and failing to purchase the promised shares. The SEC filed civil charges in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleging violations of the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as well as failure to register as a broker-dealer. In addition to the civil action, the U.S. Attorney's Office filed parallel criminal charges against the defendants. The SEC seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, financial penalties, and other remedies to recover funds from the scheme. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Staten Island-based Premier Links, Inc., its former president Dwayne Malloy, and sales representatives Chris Damon and Theirry Ruffin with operating a fraudulent boiler room scheme that defrauded over 300 elderly investors of at least $9 million. The defendants used high-pressure cold calls to lure seniors into investing in fake start-ups falsely touted as imminent IPOs, while diverting nearly all funds to themselves and concealing that no shares were ever purchased. They violated federal securities laws by acting as unregistered broker-dealers, making material misrepresentations, and falsifying account statements to mimic legitimate holdings. The SEC’s complaint seeks disgorgement, civil penalties, and recovery from relief defendants, while the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed parallel criminal charges. The investigation was led by the SEC’s New York Regional Office with support from the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Extracted insights
- $9.00M $9 million $1M–$10M
- $300K $300,000 $100K–$1M
- agency Securities and Exchange Commission
- organization Securities and Exchange Commission
- Securities and Exchange Commission charged Premier Links, Inc., its former president Dwayne Malloy, and two sales representatives including Chris Damon with operating a boiler room scheme targeting seniors
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 23163 / December 19, 2014 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Premier Links, Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 14-cv-7375-CBA SEC Charges Staten Island-Based Firm with Operating Boiler Room Scheme Targeting Seniors On December 18, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged a Staten Island, N.Y. based firm, its former president, and two sales representatives involved in a fraudulent boiler room scheme targeting seniors to invest in speculative start-up companies. The SEC alleges that Dwayne Malloy, Chris Damon, and Theirry Ruffin treated vulnerable older investors as their personal ATM machines. They cold-called names from a list they maintained at Premier Links Inc. and used high-pressure sales tactics to convince seniors to invest in companies purportedly on the brink of conducting initial public offerings (IPOs). They never disclosed to the investors that only a small fraction of the money would be transmitted to the promoted companies, and Premier Links diverted investor funds to other entities controlled by the sales representatives or other associates. According to the SEC's complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Premier Links has never been registered with the SEC as a broker-dealer as required under the federal securities laws to conduct this type of business with investors. Premier Links, Malloy, Damon, and Ruffin fraudulently obtained at least $9 million from more than 300 investors across the country by building a relationship of purported trust and confidence with them. In one particularly egregious example, Damon and Malloy spent months earning the trust of an elderly veteran in order to defraud him of $300,000. In many instances, investors were provided with misleading account statements showing the shares they purportedly purchased as being held for safekeeping in their Premier Links accounts while awaiting the promised IPOs. Yet transfer agent records for the relevant companies indicate that shares were never purchased for these investors. Investor money was simply stolen instead. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York filed criminal charges. The SEC's complaint charges Premier Links, Malloy (who was company president from 2007 to 2012), Damon, and Ruffin with violating the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as well as the broker-dealer registration provisions of the Exchange Act. They also are charged with selling securities without a registration statement filed with the SEC. The complaint seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and financial penalties among other remedies. The complaint also names several relief defendants for the purposes of recovering money from the scheme in their possession. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Joshua Newville, Peter Pizzani, Thomas P. Smith Jr., and Michael Osnato of the SEC's New York Regional Office. The case was supervised by Amelia A. Cottrell, and the litigation will be led by Todd Brody. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 23163 / December 19, 2014 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Premier Links, Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 14-cv-7375-CBA SEC Charges Staten Island-Based Firm with Operating Boiler Room Scheme Targeting Seniors On December 18, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged a Staten Island, N.Y. based firm, its former president, and two sales representatives involved in a fraudulent boiler room scheme targeting seniors to invest in speculative start-up companies. The SEC alleges that Dwayne Malloy, Chris Damon, and Theirry Ruffin treated vulnerable older investors as their personal ATM machines. They cold-called names from a list they maintained at Premier Links Inc. and used high-pressure sales tactics to convince seniors to invest in companies purportedly on the brink of conducting initial public offerings (IPOs). They never disclosed to the investors that only a small fraction of the money would be transmitted to the promoted companies, and Premier Links diverted investor funds to other entities controlled by the sales representatives or other associates. According to the SEC's complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Premier Links has never been registered with the SEC as a broker-dealer as required under the federal securities laws to conduct this type of business with investors. Premier Links, Malloy, Damon, and Ruffin fraudulently obtained at least $9 million from more than 300 investors across the country by building a relationship of purported trust and confidence with them. In one particularly egregious example, Damon and Malloy spent months earning the trust of an elderly veteran in order to defraud him of $300,000. In many instances, investors were provided with misleading account statements showing the shares they purportedly purchased as being held for safekeeping in their Premier Links accounts while awaiting the promised IPOs. Yet transfer agent records for the relevant companies indicate that shares were never purchased for these investors. Investor money was simply stolen instead. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York filed criminal charges. The SEC's complaint charges Premier Links, Malloy (who was company president from 2007 to 2012), Damon, and Ruffin with violating the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as well as the broker-dealer registration provisions of the Exchange Act. They also are charged with selling securities without a registration statement filed with the SEC. The complaint seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and financial penalties among other remedies. The complaint also names several relief defendants for the purposes of recovering money from the scheme in their possession. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Joshua Newville, Peter Pizzani, Thomas P. Smith Jr., and Michael Osnato of the SEC's New York Regional Office. The case was supervised by Amelia A. Cottrell, and the litigation will be led by Todd Brody. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.