Two Michigan men have been charged with fraud for running what was supposed to be a sophisticated day-trading platform, when in reality it only gave investors access to day-trading training programs, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday.
Jeffrey Goldman of West Bloomfield and Christopher Eikenberry of Birmingham are charged with raising $1.4 million from more than 260 traders who were inexperienced or had a history of trading losses to participate in what they thought was day-trading on a platform named Nonko Trading, the SEC said. They also have been charged criminally with fraud by the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, where the server for Nonko was located.
The pair pocketed the investors’ deposits, using the money for personal expenses and to pay some early investors who wanted to close their accounts, the complaint says. The two men said Nonko was a “state-of-the-art online stock trading infrastructure, designed to meet the exacting requirements of demanding day trading professionals,” giving them “the ability to trade a wide range of U.S. stocks and options from a single trading platform,” the complaint said.
The agreements signed by investors discussed account balances, commission rates, trading venue, trading fees and other terms of the agreements as if it was an arrangement for real securities trading, and without disclosing that the trading would, in fact, be fictitious, the complaint said.
The SEC also has charged four other people for their involvement in the scheme. The charges have been settled or are still pending, the SEC said.
In the case against Goldman and Eikenberry, the SEC is asking for the pair to repay ill-gotten gains and penalties.