SEC v. Rafael Vargas (2024)

Settled

Checked against the primary document on October 3, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

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In February 2024 the SEC announced a settlement with Rafael Vargas. The Commission barred Vargas, chief executive of Empirex Capital, from the securities industry by consent after a December 2023 federal injunction; the recited complaint allegations include about $1.8 million misappropriated and Ponzi-like payments to mask trading shortfalls.

The record

Structured fields for this action, as recorded in our case library.
Agency	SEC
Release number	IA-6558
Date filed	2024-02-15
Date resolved	2024-02-15
Status	settled
Asset class	bonds
Criminal parallel	No
Bars imposed	registration bar
Defendants	Rafael Vargas (individual)
Cited as charged or alleged	Advisers Act s.206 ; Exchange Act s.10(b) and Rule 10b-5 ; Securities Act s.17(a) ; Securities Act s.5 (statutes and rules cited in the document; not a finding that they were violated)
Techniques

What was ordered

Civil penalty: —
Disgorgement: —
Prejudgment interest: —
Total relief: —
Alleged gain: —

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on February 15, 2024 as release IA-6558. The Commission barred Vargas, chief executive of Empirex Capital, from the securities industry by consent after a December 2023 federal injunction; the recited complaint allegations include about $1.8 million misappropriated and Ponzi-like payments to mask trading shortfalls.

This library does not tag the matter as a Ponzi scheme: on a source check, the document mentions Ponzi-like payments only in passing, or as part of another party's scheme, and the charges are about something else. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

Non-monetary relief recorded: registration bar.

Timeline

2024-02-15 Administrative proceeding instituted (findings)

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

SEC order

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.