SEC Charges New Mexico Investment Advisor with Fee Fraud and Fiduciary Breaches

Posted on June 30th, 2025 at 2:46 PM
SEC Charges New Mexico Investment Advisor with Fee Fraud and Fiduciary Breaches

From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has charged David A. Nagler and his firm, New Line Capital LLC, with defrauding clients through deceptive fee disclosures and undisclosed conflicts of interest. ThinkAdvisor reports that the SEC’s civil complaint accuses both Nagler and New Line of breaching their fiduciary duties to clients.

According to the SEC, Nagler and his firm falsely claimed they would “take care to assure” annual advisory fees would not exceed 2 percent of a client’s assets under management. In reality, they made no such effort and charged numerous clients above that rate. The complaint also alleges that New Line misrepresented its services by stating it “may” offer hourly fee arrangements, while in fact charging clients hourly without proper disclosure or acknowledgment of what the SEC perceived to be related financial conflicts, according to ThinkAdvisor.

Between April 2019 and December 2024, the SEC also contends that Nagler and New Line consistently overbilled advisory fees and invoiced clients for “consulting” services without their knowledge. The SEC alleges those practices violated anti-fraud provisions of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and seeks injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and civil penalties.

 

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, sec

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