The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against the Hedonova Fund and Hedonova Advisors in federal court Thursday, citing the firm for raising at least $12.5 million from investors in its alternative fund while making allegedly fraudulent statements regarding just about every aspect of its operations, right down to investment returns, assets and the auditors it uses.

The SEC alleges that from at least 2022, when the Hedonova Fund was created, until now, it has actively raised money from investors using “claims that it achieves extraordinary investment returns,” when in fact the fund has made materially false statements about its investments, its operations and governance, including the identities of its auditor, administrator, custodian of funds, and bankers. The SEC made the charges in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The SEC also charged Hedonova Advisors, which registered with the SEC as an RIA in September 2023, with fraud and making materially false statements about itself and about the Hedonova Fund in its Form ADV. The ADV lists Alexander Cavendish, Munish Kumar and Suman Bannerjee as the principals of the Hedonova Fund. It also identifies the three individuals as owners and principals of Hedonova Advisors.

All three are located outside the U.S. and have all declined to appear for testimony in the United States during the investigation, according to the complaint. Hedonova Advisors said in its ADV that its principal office is in Los Angeles.

“The fraudulent investment scheme … appears to be ongoing,” the SEC said, saying the Hedonova Fund’s website is still publicly available and the fund is known to have received investments as recently as February 2024. Hedonova Advisors sent at least one investor a quantitative report as recently as May 1, 2024, addressing what the SEC called the “fictitious” performance of the Hedonova Fund in April 2024.

The SEC is seeking to enjoin all three defendants in this action from violations of federal securities laws and seeks disgorgement of their ill-gotten gains, along with prejudgment interest and civil penalties.

In a May 2022 press release, the firm called itself “a unique hedge fund that is working to make investing in modern assets more accessible and convenient. The hedge fund offers its investors access to over 12 alternative asset classes through a single diversified fund, and currently offers investments in cryptos, NFTs, art, startups, real estate, media assets, and more. Through its unique model, Hedonova has become a sought-after fund, and in just two years it has more than 2,000 accredited investors and $92 million in holdings.”

The firm said it strove to “make investing accessible to everyone by requiring an investment of just $5,000.” The minimum investment was raised to $10,000 in 2023, the SEC said.

The firm’s website claimed impressive investment returns, including a 38.78% net internal rate of return and a 53.16% compound annual growth rate. The website also represents that as of October 2023 the fund had achieved “105.27% alpha” over the S&P 500. The SEC claims the returns were falsified.

On March 29, 2024, Hedonova Advisors filed an updated Form ADV reporting that the fund had a gross value of $823,806,897 in assets. But when the firm produced an undated document purporting to be a portfolio allocation schedule in response to the SEC investigation, it showed only $79,304,244 in assets. When Hedonova provided the SEC with what it said was a list of investors in the fund, the list showed only 85 investors with an aggregate investment amount of $1,710,778, according to the SEC.

When the SEC contacted the Big Four accounting firms listed by the fund as its auditors, they said they had never worked with Hedonova and subsequently filed cease-and-desist motions against the firm, the agency said.

Tariq Alwahedi, a spokesman and principal investor for Hedonova, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the complaint.