U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 25977 / April 15, 2024
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Scott Lindell, No. 1:22-cv-08368 (S.D.N.Y. filed Sept.30, 2022)
SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Infinity Q’s Former Senior Officer for Role in Massive Valuation Fraud
On April 12, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a final judgment against defendant Scott Lindell, whom the SEC previously charged with misconduct concerning a more than $1 billion overvaluation scheme. Lindell is a former senior officer of SEC-registered investment adviser Infinity Q Capital Management LLC.
The SEC's complaint was filed on September 30, 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The SEC alleged that, from at least February 2017 through February 2021, James Velissaris, Infinity Q's founder and former Chief Investment Officer, actively manipulated the valuation models available from a certain third-party pricing service and altered inputs to mask the poor performance of the mutual fund and hedge fund that Infinity Q advised. As alleged, Lindell negligently misrepresented to investors and potential investors, representatives of the mutual fund's board, and others that the pricing service was "independent" of Infinity Q when, in fact, Velissaris exercised control over the pricing service. As further alleged, Lindell, at Velissaris's direction, helped Velissaris submit misleading documents to the SEC staff in response to the SEC's initial inquiries in this matter and, on one occasion, helped Velissaris mislead the mutual fund's auditor. As set forth in the complaint, Lindell also made misstatements on various Infinity Q filings with the Commission.
Lindell consented to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining him from violations of the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Rule 13b2-2, and Sections 204(a), 206(2), 206(4), and 207 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and Rules 204-2(a), 206(4)-7, and 206(4)-8 thereunder, ordering him to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $100,000, and barring him for two years from serving as an officer or director of any SEC-reporting company.
The SEC's ongoing investigation is being conducted by Zachary Sturges and Joshua Brodsky of the Complex Financial Instruments Unit, Ming Ming Yang and Lee Greenwood of the Asset Management Unit, and Neal Jacobson, Alistaire Bambach, Kerri Palen and James Addison of the New York Regional Office. It is being supervised by Andrew Dean, Co-Chief of the Asset Management Unit, and Osman Nawaz, Chief of the Complex Financial Instruments Unit. The litigation is led by Mr. Sturges, Mr. Brodsky, Mr. Greenwood, Hayden Brockett, and Preethi Krishnamurthy. The SEC acknowledges the assistance and cooperation of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the FBI, and the CFTC.