A Florida man duped retail investors out of about $350,000 by convincing them he was about rack up big sales with a motorized surfboard product, the SEC said.
Roberto J. Clark Jr. of Palm Bay, Fla. told investors the money would be used to fund the surboard project, but he instead used the funds to buy fancy clothes and attend adult entertainment establishments, the SEC said in a civil complaint.
In a parallel case, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia also announced criminal charges against Clark, the SEC said.
The SEC's complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., said that from December 2016 to about February 2019, Clark fraudulently solicited individuals to make short-term loans to KRM, a company that he controlled, and to invest in unregistered securities issued by KRM.
The complaint said that Clark claimed that KRM needed funds to market and develop its “JetBoard,” a motorized surfboard, and that KRM already had pending orders for the surfboard. But KRM had no orders or contracts for any products and Clark diverted most of the about $350,000 that he obtained from multiple investors to his personal expenses, including high-end apparel, a luxury automobile, event tickets, and the cost of attending adult entertainment establishments..
To facilitate the scheme, Clark showed investors a forged contract for surfboard orders from a major cruise line, made misrepresentations about purported orders from water sports vendors in Florida, and marketed the investment in his company using baseless revenue projections, the SEC said.
The complaint said KRM is a Florida limited-liability company incorporated by Clark. During the time period at issue, KRM had a principal place of business in Arlington, Va., and Chevy Chase, Md., the SEC said. The majority of Clark’s securities solicitations were conducted in Alexandria and Fairfax, Va.
The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil money penalties against Clark and KRM.