Securities Lawyers Blog
Previously financial advisor Evan Katz (Katz), previously employed by brokerage firm Stonehaven, LLC has been subject to at least one disclosable event. These events include one tax lien. According to a BrokerCheck reports most of the recent customer complaints concern either corporate debt securities or alternative investments such as direct participation products (DPPs) like business development companies (BDCs), non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), oil & gas programs, annuities, and private placements. The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP have represented hundreds of investors who suffered losses caused by these types of high risk, low reward products.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a final customer complaint on September 27, 2024.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (‘Commission’) deems it appropriate and in the public interest that cease-and-desist proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted against Evan H. Katz (‘Respondent’). In anticipation of the institution of these proceedings, Respondent has submitted an Offer of Settlement which the Commission has determined to accept. The commission finds that This matter arises out of misrepresentations in the private placement memorandum (‘PPM’) and marketing materials for the Crawford Ventures Absolute Return Fund, LP (the ‘Fund’), a currency trading fund that raised more than $16 million from investors. The Fund’s PPM and marketing materials claimed that the Fund’s currency trading strategy would mirror a successful strategy previously used by two of the Fund manager’s principals-brothers Akshay and Dev Kamboj (the ‘Kamboj brothers’)-in Separately Managed Accounts (‘SMA’). As proof of the SMA results, prospective investors were provided with an ‘Audit Report’ and a ‘Performance Audit’ purportedly issued by an audit and consulting firm (‘the Auditor’) based in Australia. In reality, the Auditor had not audited the SMAs and the Audit Report and the Performance Audit had been forged by the Kamboj brothers. Katz, a co-founder of the Fund, provided to certain prospective investors the forged materials that the Kamboj brothers furnished. While the Kamboj brothers hid their conduct from Katz, he failed to take reasonable steps to confirm the legitimacy of the Audit Report and the Performance Audit in violation of Sections 17(a)(2) and (3) of the Securities Act.
