SEC Charges Three Individuals with Impersonating Financial Professionals in Fraud Scheme Targeting Retail Investors

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Chibuzo Augustine Onyeachonam, Stanley Chidubem Asiegbu, and Chukwuebuka Martin Nweke-Eze with fraud for impersonating legitimate securities brokers and investment advisers in an elaborate online scheme through which the defendants stole more than $2.9 million from at least 28 investors.

As alleged in the SEC's complaint, from at least 2019 to the present, the three defendants, who reside in Nigeria, created websites impersonating nearly two dozen actual securities brokers and investment adviser representatives (collectively, representatives) at well-known U.S. securities firms as part of a fraudulent scheme to entice potential investors in the United States to invest funds with the defendants. The defendants allegedly lured investors to the websites by placing fictitious comments from purported clients on social media and in investment group chats praising the representatives' trading success. The SEC's complaint alleges that the defendants promised monthly returns of up to 25 percent and directed investors to fake online investment platforms they created to make investors think their portfolios were increasing in value. In addition, according to the SEC's complaint, the defendants purchased voice changing software to talk to investors, as most of the impersonated professionals were women.

"Today's charges highlight how fraudsters can manipulate online information and use technology to gain trust with investors," said Sanjay Wadhwa, Acting Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. "We caution the investing public to be on heightened alert when investing with someone who is soliciting investments through social media, even if that person appears to be a financial industry professional."

The SEC's complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, charges Onyeachonam, Asiegbu, and Nweke-Eze with violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Exchange Act of 1934, and charges Onyeachonam and Asiegbu with violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, conduct-based injunctions, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties against all defendants.

In a parallel action, the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced criminal charges against Onyeachonam, Asiegbu, and Nweke-Eze.

The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, in collaboration with the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, has issued an investor alert about impersonation scams, with tips on how investors can protect themselves.

The SEC's investigation is being conducted by Elizabeth Doisy and Mike Kerrane of the SEC's Home Office, Martin Zerwitz, Nicholas Bohmann, and Deborah A. Tarasevich of the Enforcement Division's Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, and Rhonda Jung, and Adam S. Grace of the SEC's New York Regional Office, with assistance from David R. Karasik, Owen A. Granke, and Marlee Miller in the Office of International Affairs, and Kenneth Zavos and Jennifer Ross of the Home Office. The case has been supervised by Tejal D. Shah, Jorge G. Tenreiro, and Stacy L. Bogert. The litigation is being conducted by Travis Hill and supervised by Preethi Krishnamurthy of the New York Regional Office.

The SEC appreciates the assistance of the FBI and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, as well as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, the Central Bank of Ireland, the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, the Israel Securities Authority, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, the Central Bank of Lithuania, the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan, the Financial Services Commission of the Republic of Korea, and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.