On August 23, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against Aether Innovative Technology, Inc. ("Aether"), a company that planned to collect, process, and sell cellular transmission data, and its CEO John C. Wilson II ("Wilson"), for allegedly making materially false and misleading statements to investors and misappropriating investor funds for Wilson's personal use.

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal district court in the Northern District of Texas, alleges that from August 2019 to September 2020, Aether and Wilson raised approximately $1.9 million from investors using materially false and misleading statements in offering materials and other written communications, regarding, among other things, the existence and amounts of prior investments, the use of investor assets, the deployment of the hardware to be used in Aether's primary business, and the existence of a significant customer relationship. As alleged, Wilson also misappropriated investor assets for himself and his family.

The SEC's complaint charges Aether and Wilson 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. The SEC seeks a permanent injunction, civil penalties, and disgorgement with prejudgment interest against Aether and Wilson, and an officer-and-director bar and conduct-based injunction against Wilson.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Timothy Work, Elizabeth Doisy, and Brian Palechek, and supervised by Stacy L. Bogert and George Bagnall. The litigation will be led by Gregory Miller and supervised by David Gottesman.