Litigation Releases (Norman V. Meier)

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 26152/ October 11, 2024

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Norman V. Meier

, No. 24-cv-12602 (D. Mass. filed October 11, 2024)

SEC Charges Massachusetts Resident with Multi-Million Dollar Stock Securities Fraud

Today the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against Wakefield, Massachusetts resident Norman V. Meier, for allegedly conducting a multi-million dollar securities fraud involving the offer and sale of several stocks to unsuspecting investors in both Europe and the United States.

The SEC's complaint alleges that, from June 2015 to December 2023, Meier received more than $7.9 million from over 180 European investors and three U.S. investors. The SEC alleges in the complaint that Meier engaged teams of cold-callers in Europe who used fake names and solicited investments in companies created by Meier or his associates that had little or no actual business operations, as well as phony securities purportedly offered by well-known companies to which Meier and his teams of cold-callers had no real connection. The SEC further alleges in the complaint that Meier's victims wired funds to bank accounts in the United States that Meier controlled. As alleged, rather than investing funds as promised, Meier misappropriated money for his own use and to pay his overseas sales network to lure additional investors. According to the complaint, many of Meier's victims were German-speaking. One of the accounts that Meier allegedly used to receive investor funds was held in the name of a Meier-owned company called "Treuhand," which is a German word that means "trust" or "escrow."

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, charges Meier with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The complaint names as relief defendants five companies associated with Meier, including: Treuhand, Inc., Norman Meier International, Inc., a/k/a NMI, Inc., Windeco Corporation, Texxon Oil Corp., and International Financial Services, Inc., a/k/a IFS, Inc., a/k/a IFS, Inc. d/b/a IRM, Inc., which allegedly received proceeds from the investor funds.

The SEC's case is being handled by William J. Donahue, Kerry Dakin, Rory J. Alex, Michael C. Moran, and Colin D. Forbes of the Boston Regional Office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority of Germany and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.