Leon Vaccarelli, et al.

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 25763 / June 30, 2023

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Leon Vaccarelli, et al., No. 3:17-cv-01471 (D. Conn., filed Aug. 31, 2017)

United States v. Leon Vaccarelli, No. 18-cr-92-SRU (D. Conn., filed May 2, 2018)

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Former Broker and Investment Adviser Charged with Fraud

On June 29, 2023, the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut entered a final judgment against Leon Vaccarelli (d/b/a LUX Financial Services) and his company, LWLVACC, LLC, for fraudulently persuading several customers to invest with him and then spending their money on his own living and business expenses.

The SEC's complaint, filed in 2017, alleged that Vaccarelli defrauded at least nine investors, several of whom were elderly, of over $1,000,000. The SEC alleged that instead of investing the customers' funds in investment accounts and other investment opportunities as promised, Vaccarelli used the funds for his own living and business expenses. In some instances, Vaccarelli allegedly used the customers' funds to pay back prior investors. Vaccarelli also allegedly asked one customer to sign an agreement that she would not provide certain information to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or the SEC. The SEC further alleged that Vaccarelli sold more than $450,000 in securities that were held in trust for a beneficiary and used some of the proceeds to pay business and personal expenses.

On May 29, 2019, after an 11-day criminal trial, a jury convicted Vaccarelli of securities fraud and other charges arising from the same conduct alleged in the SEC's complaint. On October 30, 2020, Vaccarelli was sentenced to 90 months incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release. On December 23, 2020, he was ordered to pay restitution of $1,456,632. Vaccarelli currently is incarcerated in federal prison in Massachusetts.

On June 29, 2023, the court entered a final judgment in the SEC's case permanently enjoining Vaccarelli and LWLVACC from violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5 and 21F-17(a), and Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and ordering Vaccarelli to pay disgorgement plus prejudgment interest totaling $1,518,941, offset by the amount of restitution ordered in the parallel criminal case.

For further information, see Litigation Release Nos. 23927 (August 31, 2017), 24140 (May 14, 2018), and 24495 (June 10, 2019).

• Judgment