The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday charged New Jersey insurance agent Ivan Ramos with fraud in connection with two securities offerings that raised over $1 million from his insurance clients and other investors.

According to the SEC's complaint, from approximately August 2017 to July 2020, Ramos, an insurance agent at a large, well-known insurance company, lured several of his clients and other acquaintances into investing approximately $1 million through a pair of firms, Invexperts, LLC and Wealth Seeds Capital, LLC. The complaint alleges that Ramos falsely promised investors in Invexperts - a company wholly owned by a friend of Ramos's - a conservative, safe investment, with a guaranteed 5% return. The complaint further alleges that the investors from whom Ramos solicited funds were inexperienced and put their trust in Ramos as an agent of the well-known insurance company. As alleged, however, Ramos actually intended to use funds he solicited for Invexperts to finance a restaurant venture that he knew involved significant risk, and in fact used investors' funds to operate the restaurant, purchase real estate, and pay his personal expenses. The complaint alleges that when the restaurant failed to turn a profit, Ramos created and solicited investments in Wealth Seeds. According to the complaint, Ramos falsely pitched Wealth Seeds as a safe investment, but used funds invested in Wealth Seeds to repay Invexperts investors.

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal district court for the District of New Jersey, charges Ramos 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. Ramos has consented to the entry of a judgment that imposes a permanent injunction, with monetary relief to be determined at a later date. The settlement is subject to court approval. In a parallel action concerning the same conduct, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey today announced that Ramos pleaded guilty.

The SEC's investigation, which is ongoing, is being conducted by Liora Sukhatme and Adam Grace of the New York Regional Office and supervised by Lara S. Mehraban. The SEC's litigation is being handled by Ms. Sukhatme and Jack Kaufman. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.