SEC files charges against individuals involved in $8M boiler room scheme
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today filed a complaint against Robert Lenard Booth, a/k/a Trevor Nicholas, Daniel T. Wellcome Jr., Michael D’Urso, Antonella Chiaramonte, Alyssa D’Urso, and Jay Garnock. These individuals are allegedly involved in a $8 million boiler room scheme.
According to the complaint, seen by FX News Group, from at least April 2019 to December 2020, Michael D’Urso and Daniel T. Wellcome Jr. of Long Island, New York, laundered more than $8 million from at least 140 investors defrauded by overseas boiler rooms, including one operated by Robert Booth.
The boiler rooms defrauded their victims, many of whom were elderly or retirement-age, by selling fake investments that purportedly traded on U.S. exchanges. Booth’s boiler room alone received approximately $700,000 from at least 10 investors.
Robert Lenard Booth, a/k/a Trevor Nicholas, age 67, is presently under house arrest in Brooklyn, New York. In 2019, Booth changed his legal name from Trevor Nicholas to Robert Lenard Booth. Booth is not registered with the Commission in any capacity.
Wellcome, who lived in the Philippines at the time, acted as the intermediary between the boiler rooms and D’Urso, orchestrating the movement and disbursement of funds. Victims, who lived in both the United States and abroad, believed they were investing in publicly traded companies and wired their money to New York shell companies that D’Urso controlled through various nominees, including his daughter Alyssa D’Urso, his fiancée Antonella Chiaramonte, and his friend Jay Garnock.
When investor money came in, D’Urso skimmed a portion for himself, Wellcome and his nominees, and wired the rest overseas to the boiler rooms. Chiaramonte, Alyssa D’Urso, and Garnock participated in the fraud by opening bank accounts for the shell companies and deceiving banks about the nature of their businesses. They also gave D’Urso online access to the accounts and dispersed funds at D’Urso’s direction.
The SEC alleges that the defendants violated the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) [15 U.S.C. § 77q(a)] and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Action of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) [15 U.S.C. §78j(b)] and Rule 10b-5 thereunder [17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5]. In the alternative, Chiaramonte, Alyssa D’Urso, and Garnock also aided and abetted D’Urso’s violations.
Additionally, Booth violated and, unless restrained and enjoined by the Court, may continue to violate the broker registration provisions of Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. §78o(a)], and Wellcome and D’Urso aided and abetted Booth’s violations of that statute.
Let’s note the list of relevant entities in this case:
- ATC Holdings and Transfer Corp. is a New York corporation created in August 2019. Chiaramonte is the nominal owner of ATC Holdings. ATC Holdings is a shell company. It has no employees or operations.
- BA Management Holdings Corp. is a New York corporation created in June 2020. Alyssa D’Urso is the registered agent and nominal owner of BA Management. BA Management is a shell company. It has no employees or operations.
- Irvine Management Transfers and Holdings Corp. is a New York corporation created in October 2019. Alyssa D’Urso is the registered agent and nominal owner of Irvine Management. Irvine Management is a shell company. It has no employees or operations.
- DT Holdings Management Corp. is a New York corporation created in August 2018. Garnock is the nominal owner of DT Holdings. DT Holdings is a shell company. It has no employees or operations.