A New Jersey investment manager has been sanctioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission for stealing approximately $6 million from investors and using it to make mortgage payments and pay for landscaping, among other things, the SEC announced Friday.
James R. Trolice of Alpine, N.J., has been barred from being an officer or director of any public company and permanently enjoined from violating SEC regulations. Monetary damages will be assessed in the future. Trolice agreed to the SEC action. He pled guilty in April to federal criminal fraud charges and was ordered to repay $5 million by a federal District Court judge in New Jersey. He is scheduled to be sentenced on the criminal charges in July.
According to the SEC complaint, Trolice and others pocketed $6 million they raised from more than 100 investors. He told investors he could purchase common stock of a technology startup company that would yield large returns. He claimed only a limited number of people could buy the stock.
He lured investors into the scheme by showcasing his apparent wealth and hosting elaborate investor parties at his multi-million-dollar home, the SEC says.
He also claimed he had a successful record of taking startup companies public and obtaining high returns for investors, the complaint says. Meanwhile, Trolice used investor funds to pay his mortgage along with other bills for a credit card, car lease, college tuition, and landscaping, the SEC says.
The criminal investigation is continuing against others involved in the scheme, the SEC complaint says.