SEC Obtains Emergency Relief Against AlphaPlus Entities and Principals In Connection With $40 Million Fraud

Posted on November 9th, 2021 at 1:18 PM
SEC Obtains Emergency Relief Against AlphaPlus Entities and Principals In Connection With $40 Million Fraud

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law:

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed fraud charges against a New Jersey-based “claims aggregator”, which is in the business of submitting claims on behalf of its clients to claims administrators in order to transfer settlement funds to harmed investors. 

The SEC has charged the claims aggregator and its three principals for allegedly misappropriating settlements funds that were earmarked for securities fraud victims. The SEC’s complaint alleges that Joseph Cammarata, Erik Cohen and David Puntuieri along with two entities, AlphaPlus Portfolio Recovery Corp. and Alpha Plus Recovery LLC, misappropriated nearly $40 million from at least 400 distribution funds. According to the complaint, AlphaPlus allegedly began filing false claims with settlement fund administrators in 2014 by falsely claiming to represent clients who had traded securities involved in the settlements. 

AlphaPlus and its principals allegedly utilized false trading data and letterhead from other brokerage firms to provide evidence of their fraudulent claims to administrators, according to the SEC’s complaint. The complaint further alleges that Cammarata, Cohen and Puntuieri transferred the ill-gained distributions through a series of controlled accounts in order to pay for jewelry, home renovations, luxury automobiles, real estate and other personal expenses. 

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

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, sec, emergency relief

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