The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Andrew Spaventa and three entities he controlled with fraud and registration violations tied to 11 private funds marketed as opportunities to invest in pre-initial public offering companies. The complaint alleges they raised more than USD 74 million from over 800 mostly retail investors between December 2020 and June 2025 while concealing substantial markups on the underlying investments. According to the SEC, Spaventa acquired pre-IPO securities through controlled entities and resold them to the funds at marked-up prices, producing investor prices that averaged about 46% above acquisition costs despite representations that upfront fees were zero or no more than 12.5%. The defendants allegedly collected about USD 23 million in upfront fees, including more than USD 12 million paid to sales agents and about USD 4 million directed to Spaventa. The complaint also alleges the use of more than 100 sales agents, cold calls and high-pressure tactics, unsupported return projections, false scarcity claims, unregistered securities offerings and unregistered broker-dealer activity. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement with prejudgment interest and civil penalties against all defendants. It also seeks to bar Spaventa from acting as or associating with a broker, dealer or investment adviser and from participating in securities transactions other than for his personal account.

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