SEC Freezes Assets of Florida Resident Stealing Investor Funds for Luxury Purchases
Jul 14, 2009
Washington, D.C., July 14, 2009 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges and an asset freeze against a Weston, Fla., resident who stole more than $15 million in investor funds to purchase a multi-million dollar home, luxury vehicles, and millions of dollars in jewelry and home furnishings.
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The SEC alleges that Sean Nathan Healy promised investors that he would use their money to trade in securities and commodities on their behalf. Despite repeated assurances that his purported trading was earning excellent returns, Healy did not invest any of the money he received and instead made personal purchases as well as Ponzi-like payments to investors he defrauded.
“Rather than investing the money as he promised, Sean Healy used investor funds to finance an extravagant lifestyle for himself and his family,” said Antonia Chion, Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “Healy did not provide account statements or other documentation to investors and took advantage of the trust placed in him.”
According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in federal district court in Pennsylvania, Healy obtained most of the funds from a Pennsylvania resident who invested his own money as well as funds provided by his attorney and more than 40 of their friends, acquaintances and business associates. The SEC alleges that Healy stole investor funds to purchase a $2.4 million home and more than 10 luxury vehicles including Porsches, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, a Bentley, and a Lincoln limousine. Healy further spent investor money to lease 2,500 square feet of garage space to store the vehicles. He also purchased approximately $1.4 million worth of jewelry including an engagement ring for his wife, and approximately $2.3 million in home renovations including a home movie theater.
The SEC’s complaint further alleges that when Healy was questioned about his trading, he provided falsified bank and trading records to the Pennsylvania resident and to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
The SEC’s complaint charges Healy with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, and names as relief defendants Healy’s wife and an entity controlled by Healy, Sand Dollar Investing Partners LLC. The SEC alleges that the relief defendants received ill-gotten gains from Healy’s fraud. The SEC’s complaint seeks disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and financial penalties against Healy, as well as an order requiring Healy and the relief defendants to account for the ill-gotten investor funds they received, expediting discovery, preventing the destruction or alteration of documents, and the appointment of a temporary receiver to oversee the assets of the Healys and his company.
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has granted the SEC’s request for a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against Healy, his wife and Sand Dollar Investing Partners. The court also appointed a receiver to oversee Healy’s assets and all the assets of the relief defendants that are traceable to the fraud.
The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The CFTC simultaneously filed a related emergency action against Healy and the relief defendants named in SEC’s enforcement action.
The SEC’s investigation is continuing.
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