SEC goes after Hereford Holdings head
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a lawsuit against Joseph J. D’Ambrosio at the New York Southern District Court.
According to the SEC’s complaint, for many years, D’Ambrosio orchestrated an investment fraud through Hereford Holdings, L.L.C., an entity that he established to invest funds on behalf of family and friends, but which he used instead to misappropriate investor money for his personal use.
Starting in January 1998, D’Ambrosio raised millions of dollars for Hereford from approximately 19 investors. By at least 2010, D’Ambrosio was taking money from Hereford to support his personal lifestyle.
D’Ambrosio transferred approximately $5.5 million of Hereford’s money to himself.
He concealed his fraud by providing Hereford investors false statements about the performance and value of their investments.
By December 2024, D’Ambrosio had drained Hereford of virtually all its money. Consequently, D’Ambrosio could not meet investor redemption requests, and on or about December 23, 2024, he self-reported his violative conduct to the Commission staff and other law enforcement personnel.
The SEC accuses D’Ambrosio of violations of Sections 206(1), 206(2), and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 [15 U.S.C. §§ 80b-6(1), 80b-6(2), and 80b-6(4)] and Rule 206(4)-8 thereunder [17 C.F.R.§ 275.206(4)-8].
The Commission seeks a final judgment: (a) permanently enjoining D’Ambrosio from violating the federal securities laws and rules that this Complaint alleges that he has violated; (b) ordering D’Ambrosio to disgorge all ill-gotten gains he received as a result of the violations and to pay prejudgment interest thereon; (c) ordering D’Ambrosio to pay civil money penalties pursuant to Advisers Act Section 209(e) [15 U.S.C. § 80b-9(e)]; and (d) ordering any other and further relief the Court may deem just and proper.
Joseph J. D’Ambrosio, age 66, is a resident of Bronxville, New York. At all relevant times, D’Ambrosio was the managing member of Hereford, while simultaneously serving as the president and managing member of Investment Adviser A, the investment manager to several hedge funds in which Hereford was a limited partner.
D’Ambrosio is not registered with the Commission. D’Ambrosio became a Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder in 1994.