U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 25833 / September 19, 2023
Securities and Exchange Commission v. MFB 111 Investment, LLC, et al., No. [insert case number] (S.D. Fla. Filed Sept. 19, 2023)
SEC Charges Florida Resident with Operating a $1.8 Million Ponzi Scheme Targeting Haitian American Community
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged MFB 111 Investment, LLC and its president, Monise François Bien Aimé, alleging that they fraudulently raised approximately $1,800,000 from at least 170 investors through an unregistered securities offering, targeting members of the Haitian and Haitian American community in South Florida and elsewhere.
The SEC's complaint alleges that from at least 2021 to 2022, MFB and François offered investment contracts to investors promising returns of up to 10% on a weekly, and later monthly, basis. MFB and François promoted the scheme through Facebook videos and word-of-mouth within South Florida's Haitian community. As alleged, MFB and François made statements to investors claiming the investment was safe and that investor funds would be used to purchase real estate for short-term Airbnb rentals, invest in mutual funds, a restaurant, a gas station, and to buy merchandise for François' clothing store. In fact, as the SEC alleges, while MFB and François made some investments, they also misappropriated at least $186,000 of investor funds, used investor funds to make Ponzi-like distributions to investors, and ultimately failed to repay most investors the principal and interest promised.
The SEC's complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, charges MFB and François with violating the registration provisions of Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act). The complaint also charges MFB and François with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of allegedly ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, and civil penalties against MFB and François, and an officer and director bar against François. The complaint names Julien Janvier, a Miami area gospel singer who received investor proceeds, as a relief defendant and seeks disgorgement with prejudgment interest from him.
The SEC's investigation was part of the Miami Regional Office's Fraud Against Minority Groups Initiative and was conducted by Najwa-Monique Sharpe and Lina M. Fernandez with assistance from Nadirah R. Phillip in the Miami Regional Office and supervised by Thierry Olivier Desmet, Fernando Torres, and Glenn S. Gordon. The SEC's litigation will be led by Pascale Guerrier, and supervised by Teresa J. Verges.