WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced charges Dec. 21 against two men behind an allegedly phony day-trading firm that pocketed more than $1.4 million in deposits from defrauded investors across the globe.
According to the SEC, Naris Chamroonrat of Bangkok, Thailand, recruited Adam L. Plumer of Las Vegas to help him scam investors. The pair purportedly used an unregistered brokerage firm called Nonko Trading and promised customers generous leverage, low trading commissions and low minimum deposit requirements.
The defendants allegedly came up with a trading simulation that made it look like investors could place trade orders. All funds, however, went to the pocket of Chamroonrat, who used the money to pay personal expenses, Plumer and other associates, the SEC claims.
The SEC charged the defendants with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10(b), 15(a)(1) and 20(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. The agency seeks injunctions and disgorgement of ill-gotten profits.
“As alleged in our complaint, Chamroonrat defrauded investors in more than 30 countries by using a trading simulator to deceive them into believing they were involved in legitimate securities trading rather than victims of a $1.4 million fraud,” said Joseph G. Sansone, co-chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Market Abuse Unit.