March 27, 2023, Washington, DC
Long Island advisor report
The SEC said today that former broker Surage Kamal Roshan Perera and his company, Janues Capital Incorporated, cheated at least one investor out of millions of dollars by making false claims about investment opportunities and strategies, hiding trading losses, and using the money of other investors to pay off the victim’s investment in a Ponzi scheme. The Securities and Exchange Commission has won an interim restraining order and emergency asset freeze relief from the court.
Perera, a resident of Long Island, NY, allegedly misrepresented to an investor (who is not named in the SEC‘s complaint) that Janes had access to certain restricted securities at discounted prices through connections with major, institutional investors between February 2022 and March 2023. Some of the investments were guaranteed returns of up to 9%, with potential returns of 50%, according to the allegations, and he also claimed to employ a trading system he called “Options Straddles” that would prevent trading losses.
The complaint alleges that at least $3.5 million was stolen from the investor by Perera and Janues, who then used the money to engage in highly speculative and leveraged trading. More than $2.5 billion worth of securities were traded by Perera, and he lost roughly $3 million doing so.
The investor claims that Perera provided him with fake confirmations and account statements that inaccurately displayed the promised returns in order to cover up the misappropriation and losses. The complaint further claims that Perera tried to cover up the losses by making Ponzi-like payments to the investor with money from other sources.
According to New York Regional Office Director Antonia Apps, “As noted in our complaint, Perera and his firm Janues engaged in predatory and fraudulent behaviour by claiming to have special access to securities through their professional connections, but instead defrauded millions of dollars from their investor.” Those that prey on small investors and steal from them will continue to be pursued by us.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York has also announced criminal charges against Perera today.
According to the SEC’s lawsuit, Perera and Janues broke the federal securities laws’ antifraud provisions. Perera was also accused of complicity in the alleged wrongdoings by Janus. Brokerage firm owner Nishani Alahakoon is included as a relief defendant in the SEC’s case against Perera and Janus. The SEC’s successful asset freeze will prevent any further misappropriation of investor funds. Permanent injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten earnings, plus interest and penalties—these are the remedies sought by the SEC.
Hane L. Kim, who is in charge of the Retail Strategy Task Force, and Tejal Shah, who works in the SEC’s New York Regional Office, are in charge of the investigation that Austin Thompson and Christopher Ferrante are doing. Kevin P. McGrath and Mr Thompson will be in charge of the SEC’s legal action against Perera and Janues. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York were helpful to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
