SEC Charges Investment Fund Founder William K. Ichioka with $25 Million Offering Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged William K. Ichioka, of New York, New York, with fraudulently raising $25 million from individual investors primarily in California and Oregon by making false claims about his investing success and promising large anticipated returns but instead using investor funds for gambling and to enrich himself. Ichioka has agreed to resolve the charges against him. According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, from at least June 2019 to October 2021, Ichioka solicited investments for his unregistered investment fund, Ichioka Ventures, by claiming he was an accomplished investor, promising oversized returns, and guaranteeing investors’ principal.