Conrad A. Coggeshall, Defendant, and Business Owners Tax Relief, LLC, Relief Defendant

On December 16, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona entered final judgment by default against Conrad Coggeshall in a previously-filed SEC case that alleged Coggeshall fraudulently raised $700,000 from elderly investors. According to the complaint, Coggeshall told investors they were investing in Business Owners Tax Relief, LLC ("BOTR"), a purportedly successful mergers and acquisitions firm based in New York, when he actually deposited investors' funds into brokerage and bank accounts for an Arizona company he owns with the same name and then used investor funds to trade securities, incurring significant losses, pay personal expenses, and make payments to investors which he falsely represented were interest payments.

The final judgment against Coggeshall permanently enjoins him from violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act"). It also orders him to pay a civil penalty of $385,536. The final judgment also found Coggeshall liable for disgorgement of $592,546, which represents net profits gained as a result of the conduct alleged in the complaint, plus $100,299.73 in prejudgment interest, but deemed the disgorgement and prejudgment interest satisfied by the judgment of default entered against Coggeshall and BOTR by the Arizona Corporation Commission in In the Matter of Conrad Coggeshall and Business Owners Tax Relief, LLC, Docket No. S-21103A-20-0095 (October 2, 2020). At the SEC's request, the court also dismissed with prejudice the SEC's claims against Relief Defendant BOTR.

The Court had previously entered judgments by consent against Coggeshall and BOTR, which: (i) permanently enjoined Coggeshall from violating Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and Section 17(a) of the Securities Act; and (ii) ordered that Coggeshall and BOTR pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest, and that Coggeshall pay a civil penalty, in amounts to be determined by the Court upon motion of the SEC. Coggeshall and BOTR consented to these judgments without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint.

The SEC's litigation was led by Robert M. Moye and Jen Peltz and was supervised by John E. Birkenheier and Daniel Hayes. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Arizona Corporation Commission, Securities Division and the Arizona Attorney General.