Another Serious Measure by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
27 March 2023, Washington, District of Columbia —
Former broker Surage Kamal Roshan Perera and his company, Janues Capital Incorporated, have been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with defrauding at least one investor out of millions of dollars by lying about investment opportunities and strategies, concealing trading losses, and using funds received from others to give the victim the promised returns in a Ponzi-like fashion.
The Securities and Exhange Commission made the announcement today. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been successful in obtaining emergency relief in court, which includes a temporary restraining order and a freeze on assets.
Perera, a resident of Long Island, New York, allegedly told an investor, who is not named in the complaint, that Janues had access to specific restricted securities at discounted prices through connections with large, institutional investors between February 2022 and March 2023, as stated in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s complaint.
This allegedly took place between the months of February and March. He is accused of also engaging in a trading strategy that he called “Options Straddles,” and he is said to have claimed that this strategy would not only protect him from incurring any losses in trading but would also guarantee returns on some of the investments of up to 9 percent, with the possibility of returns of 50 percent.
According to the allegations contained in the complaint, Perera and Janues engaged in highly speculative and leveraged trading after fraudulently appropriating at least $3.5 million of the investor’s funds. Perera was involved in a total of more than $2.5 billion worth of transactions in the securities market, resulting in trading losses of nearly $3 million.
Then, according to the allegations, Perera covered up the misappropriation and losses by providing the investor with phony confirmations and account statements that falsely showed the anticipated returns. According to the allegations made in the complaint, Perera also made an additional attempt to conceal the losses by employing funds obtained from other sources to make payments in the style of a Ponzi scheme to the investor.
Antonia Apps, the Director of the New York Regional Office, stated that “as noted in our complaint, Perera and his firm Janues engaged in predatory and fraudulent behavior by claiming to have special access to securities through their professional connections, but in reality defrauded his investor of millions of dollars.”
“As noted in our complaint, Perera and his firm Janues engaged in predatory and fraudulent behavior by claiming to have special access to securities through their professional connections,” “We are going to keep going after individuals who prey upon retail investors and steal money from their customers,” said the representative.
In a separate but related action, the United States. The Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York made the announcement today that criminal charges will be brought against Perera.
According to the complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Perera and Janues disobeyed certain antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. Additionally, Perera was charged with aiding and abetting the alleged violations committed by Janues.
In the complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nishani Alahakoon is named as a relief defendant because it was in her brokerage account that Perera and Janus traded. The Securities and Exchange Commission was successful in getting a freeze placed on assets, which prevents any further loss of investor funds. The Securities and Exchange Commission is going after permanent injunctions, the return of ill-gotten gains with interest and penalties added on top of that.
The SEC’s ongoing investigation is being carried out by Austin Thompson and Christopher Ferrante of the New York Regional Office. The investigation is being supervised by Hane L. Kim, Chief of the Retail Strategy Task Force, and Tejal Shah of the New York Regional Office. Christopher Ferrante and Austin Thompson are both members of the New York Regional Office.
Kevin P. McGrath and Mr. Thompson are going to be in charge of leading the litigation that the SEC is bringing against Perera and Janus. The SEC is grateful to the United States for its assistance. both the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are currently investigating the matter.
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