In April the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released enforcement results for the fiscal year that ended on September 30, 2025. During the SEC’s fiscal year 2025 the Commission reported receiving a record number of tips, complaints and referrals, amounting to almost 54,000, and ranking as a 19 percent increase over fiscal year 2024.1
The Commission filed 356 enforcement actions in fiscal year 2025.
They also obtained orders for monetary relief totaling $17.9 billion of which $10.8 billion was disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and prejudgment interest and $7.2 billion was for civil penalties.
Course Correction
In 2025 the Commission prioritized cases that provided meaningful investor protection and strengthened market integrity according to SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins.2 In a press release about the 2025 enforcement actions Atkins stated, “We have redirected resources toward the types of misconduct that inflict the greatest harm—particularly fraud, market manipulation, and abuses of trust—and away from approaches that prioritized volume and record-setting penalties over true investor protection.
A key part of this course correction is a renewed emphasis on holding individual wrongdoers accountable, which promotes stronger deterrence and better safeguards investors.”
Accountability
The SEC’s focus on addressing criminals who targeted veterans, seniors and members of a religious community resulted in several noteworthy enforcement actions according to the SEC. These included the following actions:
• A scheme perpetrated by Daryl Fl Heller and his companies, Prestige Investment Group, LLC, and Paramount Management Group, LLC, that raised over $770 million from 2,700 investors who invested in a nationwide ATM network that was not as large or profitable as Heller purported.3 Having paid distributions to investors from money gained from new investments and high interest short-term loans the Ponzi scheme also included Heller misappropriating $185 million in investor funds for his own benefit. Retail investor losses totaled $400 million.
• A Ponzi scheme perpetrated by First Liberty Building & Loan LLC, and its owner, Edwin Brant Frost IV. This scheme involved selling promissory notes and loan participation agreements that offered up to 18% return on investment with the investor funds used to make short-term bridge loans to businesses at relatively high interest rates. Approximately 300 investors were defrauded of $140+ million.4
• Nightingale Properties LLC, and its founder Elchonon Schwartz were charged with false representations and misappropriating more than $52 million in investor funds for raising more than $60 million via an internet-based platform that connected investors with commercial real-estate investment opportunities.5 Investor funds were actually used to prop up other failing Nightingale commercial real estate projects, purchase watches and property, including a penthouse condominium, and engage in unprofitable trading in personal brokerage accounts.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission settled charges against Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical company Allarity Therapeutics, Inc. for failing to disclose that dovitinib, the company’s cancer drug candidate, was cited for having insufficient data for approval by the FDA, which also recommended a new Phase III clinical trial. According to the SEC Allarity did not disclose this information to investors. Allarity agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle the charges.6
• The SEC settled an administrative proceeding against Vanguard Advisers, Inc. in August 2025. The SEC alleged that Vanguard didn’t adequately disclose conflicts of interest when recommending clients enroll in Vanguard Advisers’ managed account program known as Personal Advisor Services, a fee-based advisory service that provides clients with ongoing portfolio management of their accounts. The company was required to pay a civil penalty of $19.5 million.7
The Commission reported barring 119 individuals in 2025 from serving as officers and directors of public companies. It also formed a Cross-Border Task Force to pursue enforcement actions involving “pump-and-dump” or “ramp-and-dump” schemes involving foreign-based companies and gatekeepers.
Royal Oak Securities Fraud & Investment Loss Attorneys
Our Royal Oak Securities Law Firm is dedicated to protecting investors from fraud, scams, and broker misconduct. We use our experience in securities law to safeguard your interests and seek recovery for your losses. If you have concerns about how your investments are being handled, call our securities law firm today to speak with an attorney for a free case evaluation.
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1, 2 SEC Announces Enforcement Results for Fiscal Year 2025, 4/7/2026
Link: https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2026-34
3 SEC Charges Pennsylvania Resident and His Companies with $770 Million Ponzi Scheme, 9/3/2025
Link: https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26387
4 SEC Charges Georgia-based First Liberty Building & Loan and its Owner for Operating a $140 Million Ponzi Scheme, 7/10/2025
Link: https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025-98-sec-charges-georgia-based-first-liberty-building-loan-its-owner-operating-140-million-ponzi-scheme
5 SEC Charges New York-Based Commercial Real Estate Firm and its Owner with Using an Internet Funding Platform to Steal Over $52 Million from Investors Nationwide, 2/21/2025
Link: https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26254
6 Biopharmaceutical Company Settles Charges for Disclosure Failures, 3/12/2025
Link: https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/administrative-proceedings/33-11367-s
7 SEC Charges Vanguard Advisers for Failing to Adequately Disclose Conflicts of Interest to Clients, 8/29/2025
Link: https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/administrative-proceedings/ia-6912-s