Blake Cathey
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 25795 / July 31, 2023
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Blake Cathey, Case No. 1:23-cv-22819 (S.D. Fla filed July 28, 2023)
SEC Charges Unregistered Broker for Unlawful Sales of Securities to Retail Investor
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Blake Cathey for unlawfully selling securities of Florida-based Accanito Equity, LLC, Accanito Equity II, LLC, Accanito Equity III, LLC, and Accanito Equity IV, LLC (collectively the Accanito LLCs) to retail investors. The SEC previously filed an enforcement action against Brent Seaman, the Accanito LLCs, and affiliated entities on July 27, 2023, in connection with the alleged scheme.
According to the SEC's complaint, from approximately June 2019 until September 2022, Cathey sold at least $4.655 million of Accanito LLCs' securities to 15 retail investors located in 5 states. During that period, Cathey received approximately $760,729 in transaction-based sales commissions from Accanito, even though he was not registered as a broker-dealer or permitted to sell securities.
The SEC's complaint charges Cathey with violating the securities registration provisions of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933, and the broker-dealer registration provisions of Section 15(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, Cathey agreed to the entry of a judgment providing injunctive relief with disgorgement and civil penalties to be determined by a court at a later date. Cathey also agreed to associational and penny stock bars with a right to reapply after 5 years as part of a settled follow-on administrative proceeding.
The SEC's investigation was part of the Miami Regional Office's Fraud Against Minority Groups Initiative and was conducted by Andre Zamorano, Alise Johnson, and Mark Dee in the Miami Regional Office and supervised by Thierry Olivier Desmet, Fernando Torres, and Glenn S. Gordon. The SEC's litigation will be led by Alise Johnson under the supervision of Teresa J. Verges.
The SEC encourages investors to check the backgrounds of people selling investments by using the SEC's Investor.gov to identify quickly whether they are registered professionals and confirm their identity.