SEC Charges Company and its CEO in Alleged $425 Million Ponzi Scheme

On August 11, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against Goliath Ventures, Inc. and its founder and CEO, Christopher A. Delgado, for raising at least $425 million from over 1,300 investors through an alleged multi-year Ponzi scheme. Delgado has agreed to a bifurcated settlement in connection with this civil enforcement action.

According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, from at least January 2023 through January 2026, Defendants operated the Ponzi scheme through an unregistered securities offering in which investors would “partner” with Goliath to invest in purported crypto asset liquidity pools managed by Goliath. The complaint alleges that Defendants promised investors monthly profit distributions of 3% to 10% generated from the fees buyers and sellers paid to trade the crypto assets within those liquidity pools, and guaranteed the return of investors’ principal. According to the SEC’s complaint, however, Defendants did not invest any investor funds or crypto assets into any crypto asset liquidity pool, and Delgado misappropriated at least $51 million of investor funds for personal use, including the purchase of homes, luxury vehicles, a yacht, and travel. Defendants also allegedly used money and crypto assets from new and existing investors to pay promised returns to earlier investors in Ponzi-like fashion. All the while, as the complaint alleges, Defendants hired sales agents to recruit additional investors and compensated those agents with commissions drawn from investor funds, while fabricating account balance and investment performance metrics to make it appear that investors were earning profits and that their assets were invested in crypto asset liquidity pools. The complaint further alleges that by November 2025, Goliath could no longer raise new investor money quickly enough to repay existing investors, it halted monthly distributions, and the scheme collapsed.

by SEC Litigation Release

SEC Files Settled Action as to Texas Resident Charged with Insider Trading

On August 11, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed settled insider trading charges against Benjamin Tesfaye of Irving, Texas, in connection with allegations that he illegally traded Calliditas Therapeutics AB securities in advance of the May 28, 2024 announcement of Asahi Kasei Corp.’s tender offer to acquire Calliditas.

According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Tesfaye misappropriated material, nonpublic information about the tender offer from his then-romantic partner, who worked at a subsidiary of Asahi Kasei and whose role included assessing Calliditas’s compliance program in connection with the pending acquisition. The complaint alleges that, on the basis of that information, Tesfaye purchased Calliditas securities, including American Depository Receipts and out-of-the-money call options on May 23, 2024, two trading days before the announcement of the tender offer, in his personal brokerage account and in a family member’s account over which Tesfaye had control. As alleged, the price of Calliditas’s shares increased by approximately 70% following the announcement of the tender offer and Tesfaye liquidated the Calliditas securities in his and his family member’s accounts, generating $18,668 in illicit profits.

by SEC Litigation Release

New York City Launches Sweeping Investigation Into Polymarket and Kalshi

The New York City Council is investigating four prediction markets for alleged deceptive marketing practices and targeting minors, opening a new front in the bitter, state-by-state legal war over prediction-market regulation.

City Council Speaker Julie Menin sent letters to Polymarket, Kalshi, Coinbase, and Gemini Titan, all of which have a presence in New York City, on Aug. 11 seeking answers about how the companies comply with consumer protection laws.

In a letter addressed to Polymarket founder and Chief Executive Shayne Coplan, Menin asked for details about Polymarket promotional videos that appeared to depict fake trades and promoted insider trading on social media. Some of the advertisements may have targeted minors, Menin wrote.

by WSJ

CFTC Orders Kalshi to Keep Operating Despite New York Suit

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has ordered Kalshi to keep operating despite a legal attempt by New York’s government to shut down its operations.

The federal markets watchdog said Tuesday it was invoking its emergency powers to order the company, headquartered in New York City, to continue serving customers in the state. The CFTC said it had “exclusive jurisdiction” to regulate its registered entities, including those like Kalshi that trade event contracts tied to the outcome of sports games and elections, among other topics.

by Bloomberg

SEC Charges Public Company and Officers in Alleged Fraudulent Scheme to Overstate Revenue

The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal district court in Boston, Massachusetts, alleges that from approximately October 2021 through January 2024, Netcapital improperly recognized nearly $14 million in revenue from sham consulting agreements, some of which were forged, which amounted to Netcapital overstating its revenue by approximately 345 percent. According to the complaint, Netcapital included the inflated revenue in public SEC filings and Netcapital’s securities offering materials. The alleged fraudulent scheme involved a Netcapital subsidiary that purportedly entered into consulting agreements with startups or other small companies seeking investment from the public under SEC Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg. CF). As alleged, however, the consulting agreements were fictitious, and the revenue that Netcapital recognized from them was improper.

by SEC Litigation Release

Former CFO Charged And Pleads Guilty To Defrauding Hedge Fund Of More Than $3 Million

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, and Inspector in Charge of the New York Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), Ketty Larco-Ward, announced today the filing of an Information charging THEODORE WOO, the former CFO of a hedge fund, with securities fraud. The charge results from WOO’s yearslong scheme to steal from the fund by submitting and approving falsified invoices, causing the fund to transfer money directly into accounts controlled by WOO, and incurring unauthorized personal expenses on credit cards paid by the fund. WOO pled guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo and is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan on November 18, 2026.

“For years, Theodore Woo flagrantly abused his position of trust and brazenly stole from his employer to line his own pockets,” said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald. “To do so, Woo took advantage of his position as CFO, misled his employer, and falsified documents. Lies and deception are not worth the risk of criminal prosecution. Today’s charge and plea are indicative of this Office’s commitment to holding C-suite executives accountable when they engage in fraud.”

by DOJ Press Releases

Paul Atkins Tries to Repeal the Securities Laws with a Magic Wand.

Here’s the thing: Congress enacted securities laws (the ’33 Act, the ’34 Act, the ’40 Act) and Article III judges have interpreted those laws 200+ times, holding unequivocally that they apply to every iteration of digital asset. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins cannot unilaterally repeal those laws and gleefully disregard those decisions by simply writing a new rule.

That is not how our country runs. The entire body of American jurisprudence, the Administrative Procedure Act first among it, prohibits exactly this. Yes, the securities laws allow the SEC some latitude to craft exemptions. But if SEC Chairman Paul Atkins gets his way, the securities laws become a mere set of polite recommendations, revocable by whoever holds the gavel after the last election.

Yet again, Atkins is reaching for his magic wand to create his own laws, with the stroke of a pen, and without a single vote of Congress.

But this latest Atkins stunt will not survive federal court. I just published 10,000+ meticulously cited words explaining why. Consider it a preview of the brief the challengers will file the week his doomed rule is finalized.

by John Reed Stark on LinkedIn