SEC v. Stock Purse Trading LLC and others (ponzi schemes, 2025)
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.
In August 2025 the SEC announced a settlement with Stock Purse Trading LLC, Liston Associates, Inc. and 1 other. The complaint alleges an offering fraud that raised at least $5.7 million from 200 investors promising 5% to 20% monthly returns, with at least $3.9 million of Ponzi-like distributions and $450,000 misappropriated. The defendants consented to a partial settlement, subject to court approval, leaving money relief to the court.
The record
| Agency | SEC |
|---|---|
| Release number | LR-26379 |
| Date filed | 2025-08-21 |
| Date resolved | 2025-08-21 |
| Court | U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida |
| Status | settled |
| Criminal parallel | No |
| Defendants | Stock Purse Trading LLC ; Liston Associates, Inc. ; Carole A. Liston |
| Cited as charged or alleged | Advisers Act s.206 ; Exchange Act s.10(b) and Rule 10b-5 ; Securities Act s.17(a) |
| Techniques | Ponzi schemes |
What was ordered
- Civil penalty
- —
- Disgorgement
- —
- Prejudgment interest
- —
- Total relief
- —
- Alleged gain
- —
What is alleged to have happened
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on August 21, 2025 as release LR-26379. The complaint alleges an offering fraud that raised at least $5.7 million from 200 investors promising 5% to 20% monthly returns, with at least $3.9 million of Ponzi-like distributions and $450,000 misappropriated. The defendants consented to a partial settlement, subject to court approval, leaving money relief to the court.
This library tags the matter as a Ponzi scheme because the document describes returns to earlier investors paid from later investors' money, as alleged or found. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.
What technique is this, and how does it work?
This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.
- Ponzi schemes — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
Timeline
- 2025-08-21 Litigation release published
Primary documents
Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.
Related actions
Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.
| Action | Agency | Filed | Technique | Penalty | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEC v. Mark D. Hanf and Hoai-Nam Chu Phan (ponzi schemes, 2026) | SEC | 2026-09-04 | Ponzi Schemes | — | settled |
| SEC v. Leor Moshe, Jacob Goldman, Isaac Odes (ponzi schemes, 2026) | SEC | 2026-08-13 | Ponzi Schemes | — | filed |
| CFTC v. Goliath Ventures, Inc. and Christopher Delgado (ponzi schemes, 2026) | CFTC | 2026-08-11 | Ponzi Schemes | — | filed |
| SEC v. Goliath Ventures, Inc. and Christopher A. Delgado (ponzi schemes, 2026) | SEC | 2026-08-11 | Ponzi Schemes | — | filed |
| SEC v. Aras Investment Business Group S.A.P.I. de C.V. and others (ponzi schemes, 2026) | SEC | 2026-07-24 | Ponzi Schemes | $449k | judgment |
| CFTC v. Trevor L. Vernon and Argent Capital Management LLC (ponzi schemes, 2026) | CFTC | 2026-07-07 | Ponzi Schemes | — | filed |