SEC v. Nicholas A. Palazzo; 4TA Sports, Inc.; NP Ventures Holdings, LLC; and Play Caller Sports Gaming LLC, No. LR-26117, Northern District of California (Sept. 20, 2024) — Press Release
raw: Nicholas A. Palazzo, 4TA Sports, Inc., NP Ventures Holdings, LLC and Play Caller Sports Gaming LLC
Nicholas A. Palazzo, 4TA Sports, Inc., NP Ventures Holdings, LLC and Play Caller Sports Gaming LLC, No. 5:24-cv-6602 (Sept. 20, 2024)
summary
The SEC charged former Harvard football player Nicholas A. Palazzo and his companies with orchestrating two fraudulent schemes to steal over $2 million from investors.
paragraph
The SEC alleges that Palazzo misappropriated funds intended for a sports media repurchase and a sports betting app to pay for personal expenses like private school tuition and a Disneyland trip. The complaint details that $900,000 was raised through 4TA Sports, Inc., while $2.2 million was raised via NP Ventures Holdings, LLC and Play Caller Sports Gaming LLC. The defendants face charges for violating the Securities Act of 1933 and the Exchange Act of 1934.
narrative
The SEC has charged former Harvard football player Nicholas A. Palazzo and three of his companies—4TA Sports, Inc., NP Ventures Holdings, LLC, and Play Caller Sports Gaming LLC—with orchestrating two fraudulent securities schemes. Through these schemes, Palazzo allegedly defrauded investors, including former teammates, of more than $2 million. The first scheme involved raising $900,000 for a purported sports media asset repurchase, while the second raised $2.2 million to develop a sports betting app. Instead of using the capital for these purposes, Palazzo allegedly misappropriated the funds for personal expenses, including rent, children's private school tuition, and a trip to Disneyland. The SEC's complaint, filed in the Northern District of California, alleges violations of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Exchange Act of 1934. The agency is seeking permanent injunctions, civil penalties, disgorgement, and an officer and director bar against Palazzo.
Classified pre-ipo-fraud(confidence 70%). EDGAR detection: forms S-1/Form D/1-A· recall 72% / precision 8%. detection rule →
Parties
Securities and Exchange CommissionNicholas A. Palazzo4TA Sports, Inc.NP Ventures Holdings, LLCPlay Caller Sports Gaming LLC
Keywords
palazzosportspalazzo sportsplay callerllcnicholas palazzoventures holdingscaller sportssports gamingsecurities exchangesecuritiesexchange commissionventuresfundsplay
Exhibits & Attached Documents (1)
Extracted insights
Dollar amounts 3
- $2.20M $2.2 million $1M–$10M
- $2.00M $2 million $1M–$10M
- $900K $900,000 $100K–$1M
Entities 16
- company 4ta sports, inc.
- person brittany frassetto
- person carina cuellar
- person christopher bruckmann
- person civil penalties
- person investor funds
- person Jeffrey Anderson
- person lauren poper
- company np ventures
- company np ventures holdings, llc
- person pei chung
- person permanent injunctions
- person play caller
- company play caller sports gaming llc
- agency Securities and Exchange Commission
- person stacy bogert
Triples 22
- Securities And Exchange Commission charged Nicholas A. Palazzo
- Securities And Exchange Commission charged 4TA Sports, Inc.
- Securities And Exchange Commission charged NP Ventures Holdings, LLC
- Securities And Exchange Commission charged Play Caller Sports Gaming LLC
- Nicholas A. Palazzo stole more than $2 million
- Nicholas A. Palazzo raised investor funds
- Nicholas A. Palazzo misled investors
- Nicholas A. Palazzo misappropriated funds
- 4TA Sports raised $900,000
- NP Ventures raised $2.2 million
- Play Caller raised $2.2 million
- Securities And Exchange Commission seeks permanent injunctions
- Securities And Exchange Commission seeks civil penalties
- Securities And Exchange Commission seeks disgorgement
- Securities And Exchange Commission seeks officer and director bar
- Brittany Frassetto conducted investigation
- Lauren Poper conducted investigation
- Jeffrey Anderson conducted investigation
- Carina Cuellar lead litigation
- Pei Chung supervised case
- Christopher Bruckmann supervised case
- Stacy Bogert supervised case
PDF (from attached: complaint)
Text layers
Extracted body text (2,507c)
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26117 / September 20, 2024 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Nicholas A. Palazzo, 4TA Sports, Inc., NP Ventures Holdings, LLC and Play Caller Sports Gaming LLC, No. 5:24-cv-6602 (N.D. Cal. filed September 20, 2024) SEC Charges Former Harvard Football Player and his Companies with Orchestrating Two Fraudulent Schemes The Securities and Exchange Commission charged former Harvard football player Nicholas A. Palazzo and three of his sports-related companies with defrauding investors through two securities fraud schemes. Through these schemes, the SEC's complaint alleges, Palazzo stole more than $2 million from investors, including Palazzo's former football teammates, a former professional athlete, and others. According to the SEC's complaint, in the first scheme, Palazzo, through 4TA Sports Inc., raised investor funds for the purported repurchase of the assets of a sports media company. The complaint alleges that in the second scheme, Palazzo, through NP Ventures Holdings, LLC and Play Caller Sports Gaming LLC, raised investor funds to develop and launch a sports betting app. In both schemes, Palazzo allegedly misled investors about how their funds would be used before misappropriating their funds to pay personal expenses, including his children's private school tuition, his personal rent, and a trip to Disneyland. According to the complaint, Palazzo and 4TA Sports raised $900,000 from three investors and misappropriated nearly all of these funds, while Palazzo, NP Ventures, and Play Caller allegedly raised $2.2 million from 22 investors and misappropriated more than three quarters of those funds. The SEC's complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, charges the Defendants with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Palazzo is also charged with control person liability under Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, civil penalties, and disgorgement with prejudgment interest against all Defendants and also seeks a conduct-based injunction and officer and director bar against Palazzo. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Brittany Frassetto, Lauren Poper, and Jeffrey Anderson, with assistance from Carina Cuellar, who will lead the litigation. The case was supervised by Pei Chung, Christopher Bruckmann, and Stacy Bogert.
OCR text (2,507c · html-text · 99% conf)
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26117 / September 20, 2024 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Nicholas A. Palazzo, 4TA Sports, Inc., NP Ventures Holdings, LLC and Play Caller Sports Gaming LLC, No. 5:24-cv-6602 (N.D. Cal. filed September 20, 2024) SEC Charges Former Harvard Football Player and his Companies with Orchestrating Two Fraudulent Schemes The Securities and Exchange Commission charged former Harvard football player Nicholas A. Palazzo and three of his sports-related companies with defrauding investors through two securities fraud schemes. Through these schemes, the SEC's complaint alleges, Palazzo stole more than $2 million from investors, including Palazzo's former football teammates, a former professional athlete, and others. According to the SEC's complaint, in the first scheme, Palazzo, through 4TA Sports Inc., raised investor funds for the purported repurchase of the assets of a sports media company. The complaint alleges that in the second scheme, Palazzo, through NP Ventures Holdings, LLC and Play Caller Sports Gaming LLC, raised investor funds to develop and launch a sports betting app. In both schemes, Palazzo allegedly misled investors about how their funds would be used before misappropriating their funds to pay personal expenses, including his children's private school tuition, his personal rent, and a trip to Disneyland. According to the complaint, Palazzo and 4TA Sports raised $900,000 from three investors and misappropriated nearly all of these funds, while Palazzo, NP Ventures, and Play Caller allegedly raised $2.2 million from 22 investors and misappropriated more than three quarters of those funds. The SEC's complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, charges the Defendants with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Palazzo is also charged with control person liability under Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, civil penalties, and disgorgement with prejudgment interest against all Defendants and also seeks a conduct-based injunction and officer and director bar against Palazzo. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Brittany Frassetto, Lauren Poper, and Jeffrey Anderson, with assistance from Carina Cuellar, who will lead the litigation. The case was supervised by Pei Chung, Christopher Bruckmann, and Stacy Bogert.