The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday filed a charge against a husband and wife, Marco Ramirez and Bebe Ramirez, for fraudulent activity. The couple have raised US$5 million by promising foreign investors an EB-5 Visa, but not a single investor has received a visa.
The scheme originally targeted Mexican investors, but recently they also solicited foreign investors in Egypt and Nigeria. The courts granted SEC permission to freeze the couple’s personal assets and accounts, as well as those of their three companies: USA Now LLC., USA Now Energy Capital Group LP, and Now Loan Services.
The director of SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office, David R. Woodcock, said “Through their investment scheme, the Ramirezes abused a program intended to attract foreign capital to create U.S. jobs . . . [They] misappropriated investor funds for their own purposes without any regard for the harm they caused investors who were seeking an avenue to U.S. residency.”
This scheme is not an isolated incident. Recently, a woman based in Florida was charged for defrauding investors in a Colombian-American community.
Source: SEC.gov. Read More »