SEC Charges Adviser for Running Ponzi Scheme Targeting Haitian Community

The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed charges against a New York investment adviser for operating a multimillion-dollar investment club that was actually a fraudulent Ponzi scheme targeting members of the local Haitian community as well as his family and friends. The SEC's complaint alleges that Ruless Pierre ran an investment club called the Amongst Friends Investment Group that operated as a fraudulent Ponzi scheme. From at least March 2017, Pierre allegedly raised over $2 million from at least 100 investors, predominately Haitian New Yorkers, who purchased high-yield promissory notes through Amongst Friends. As alleged, Pierre induced investors by promising unrealistically high rates of return of at least 20 percent every 60 days.