Investors Fleeced In Offering Fraud Scheme

The Commission has what appears to be a continuous stream of offering fraud actions.   Those cases come in all shapes and sizes; those who implement them use a variety of schemes to convince investors to trust them with their money and then steal it. No doubt investors looking for the quick buck facilitate this. Also key to these cases, however, is a failure of the investor to question or investigate representations furnished to them.  Stated differently, it is far too easy for investors to trust someone who often does nothing more than say “trust me”    a which point the money goes from the investor to the bad guys with little or no checking and is then gone.  The Commission’s latest case in this is a good example, SEC v. Mausner,  Civil Action No. 3:25-cv-01591 (S.D. Cal. Filed June 23, 2025).

Named as defendants in this action are Ian O. Mausner and his firm, Evolution Lending, LLC.  Ian Mausner is a recidivist.  He was an investment adviser registered with the Commission until 2004. At that point he was named as a defendant by the agency in a fraud case, In the Matter of J.S. Oliver Capital Management, L.P.,  AP File No. 3-15446, Release Nos. 10100, 78098, 4431 and 32152, 2016 SEC LEXIS 2157 (June 17, 2016).  That action was settled with sanctions against Mr. Mausner. He was the principal member, manager and owner of Evolution. That firm now has no known bank accounts. Mr. Mausner was barred from the industry.

Here Defendant Mausner implemented a scheme over a two-year period, beginning late 2020, which defrauded clients out of over $400,000.  Specifically, over that period he used the Fund to defraud investors who were told that Mr. Mausner had 30 years of experience in the financial advisory and money management industry.  Investors were told the Mr. Mausner and the Fund were investment advisers who would invest their money in specific crypto asset trading.  The claims were false.

Defendants did not disclose their regulatory background. Investors were not furnished with any registration statements or other records showing that the interests being sold were in accord with Commission regulations or that either Mr. Mausner and his Fund operating in accord with Commission regulations.  The complaint alleges violations of Securities Act Sections 5(a), 5(c) and 17(a), Exchange Act Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 and Advisers Act Sections 206(a) and 206(2) and Rule 206(4)-8.  See  Lit. Rel. No. 26333 (June 24, 2025).