The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Edwin Emmett Lickiss, Jr. in connection with a Ponzi scheme.

The SEC’s complaint, submitted on July 21, 2025, at the California Northern District Court, alleges that, from at least 1998 through 2024, Lickiss engaged in a Ponzi-scheme selling millions of dollars worth of fraudulent promissory notes purportedly paying interest rates of between 9 and 32 percent to dozens of investors.

Such fraudulent sales included at least $12.7 million in promissory note investments from approximately 80 investors between approximately 2018 and August 2024.

While the precise nature of Lickiss’ statements to investors varied, to many of them he represented that, through their investment in the promissory notes, their money would directly or indirectly be invested in limited opportunity, high-yield government bonds or other investment opportunities from which they would profit.

Lickiss’ representations were knowingly false when made. Bank records reflecting the invested proceeds show that Lickiss used the majority of investor funds to make Ponzi payments to other note investors or to pay for his personal expenses.

Indeed, it appears that most, if not all, of the investment proceeds were never invested as he represented, but simply were stolen by him or misused to keep his scheme afloat.

The SEC accuses Lickiss of violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder.

With its lawsuit, the SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, and civil monetary penalties.

Defendant Edwin Emmett Lickiss, Jr., 77, has been and is a resident of Danville, California. He was a registered representative at various registered broker-dealers from September 1987 until in or about July 2014 when he was suspended by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for failing to disclose tax liens on his Form U4 filed with FINRA and voluntarily terminated his association with his then employing registered broker-dealer, where he had been a registered representative since 1996.

Foundation Financial Group (FFG) was a d/b/a under which Lickiss perpetrated his fraud, including but not limited to, using a bank account in its and Lickiss’ name for investor deposits, Ponzi payments, and to pay personal expenses.