SEC v. Marc Henry Menard; and Laesha Jean-Louis, No. LR-26019, Eastern District of New York (June 11, 2024) — Press Release
raw: Marc Henry Menard; Laesha Jean-Louis
Marc Henry Menard; Laesha Jean-Louis, No. LR-26019 (E.D.N.Y. June 11, 2024)
summary
The SEC charged Marc Henry Menard for allegedly defrauding over fifty Haitian-American investors of at least $1.65 million through a fraudulent investment scheme.
paragraph
Marc Henry Menard allegedly defrauded more than fifty individuals, primarily from the Haitian-American community, of at least $1.65 million. He is accused of misrepresenting investment success and guaranteeing monthly returns of 10 to 20 percent while misappropriating funds for personal luxury expenses and Ponzi-like payments. The SEC's complaint alleges violations of the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, and the Investment Advisers Act.
narrative
The SEC has filed charges against Marc Henry Menard in the Eastern District of New York for an alleged fraudulent investment scheme targeting the Haitian-American community. Between July 2021 and September 2023, Menard allegedly defrauded over fifty individuals of at least $1.65 million by misrepresenting his investment success and promising monthly returns of 10 to 20 percent. Instead of trading stocks and options as promised, Menard reportedly lost nearly $700,000 in securities trading and misappropriated significant funds for luxury vehicles, travel, and personal expenses. He also used investor money to make Ponzi-like payments to prior investors and diverted funds to his romantic partner, Laesha Jean-Louis. The SEC alleges violations of the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, and the Investment Advisers Act. The agency is seeking permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement, civil penalties, and an officer and director bar against Menard, while naming Jean-Louis as a relief defendant.
Classified ponzi(confidence 90%). EDGAR detection: forms Form D· recall 35% / precision 15%. detection rule →
Statutes
Parties
Securities and Exchange CommissionMarc Henry MenardLaesha Jean-Louis
Keywords
menardmarc henryhenry menardsecurities exchangesecuritiesseclaesha jean-louisexchange commissioninvestorsmarchenryjean-louisexchangeinvestmentnew
Exhibits & Attached Documents (1)
Extracted insights
Dollar amounts 2
- $1.65M $1.65 million $1M–$10M
- $700K $700,000 $100K–$1M
Entities 13
- person celeste chase
- person daniel loss
- person marc henry menard
- company nearly $700,000 trading securities
- person olivia zach
- person relief defendant
- agency sec complaint
- agency sec investigation
- agency Securities and Exchange Commission
- person tejal shah
- person thomas feretic
- person travis hill
- unknown investments
Triples 17
- Securities And Exchange Commission filed charges against Marc Henry Menard
- Marc Henry Menard solicited investments
- Marc Henry Menard guaranteed interest payments of 10 to 20 percent per month
- Marc Henry Menard lost nearly $700,000 trading securities
- Marc Henry Menard misappropriated investor money for personal use
- Marc Henry Menard diverted significant amounts of investor money to Laesha Jean-Louis
- Laesha Jean-Louis named relief defendant
- SEC Complaint charges Marc Henry Menard with violating antifraud provisions
- SEC Complaint seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and a bar from acting as an officer or director of any public company
- SEC Complaint names Laesha Jean-Louis as relief defendant
- New York Regional Office is committed to helping educate communities targeted by fraud through its FraudWise project
- Olivia Zach conducted SEC investigation
- Thomas Feretic conducted SEC investigation
- Celeste Chase supervised SEC investigation
- Tejal Shah supervised SEC investigation
- Travis Hill will lead litigation
- Daniel Loss will supervise litigation
PDF (from attached: complaint)
Text layers
Extracted body text (3,105c)
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26019 / June 11, 2024 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Marc Henry Menard, No. 24-cv-4149 (E.D.N.Y. filed June 11, 2024) SEC Charges Individual in Fraudulent Investment Scheme Targeting the Haitian-American Community The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it filed charges against Marc Henry Menard in the Eastern District of New York for allegedly defrauding more than fifty individuals, many from the Haitian-American community, of at least $1.65 million. According to the SEC’s complaint, from approximately July 2021 through September 2023, Menard solicited investments by misrepresenting his past investment success, how he would use investor funds, and the returns investors would receive. The complaint alleges that Menard told a number of investors that their funds would be used to trade in stocks and options, and that Menard purportedly guaranteed interest payments of 10 to 20 percent per month. As alleged in the complaint, Menard was not the successful investor he claimed to be, losing nearly $700,000 trading securities, primarily using investors’ funds. As further alleged in the complaint, Menard misappropriated a significant amount of investor money for his personal use by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury vehicles, international travel, gifts, rent, and other personal expenses, as well as to make payments to prior investors in a Ponzi-like manner. In addition, as alleged in the complaint, Menard diverted significant amounts of investor money to Laesha Jean-Louis, with whom he had a romantic relationship. Finally, the complaint alleges that when Menard could no longer make promised interest payments to investors or repay the principal on their investments, Menard resorted to additional falsehoods to conceal his scheme. The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charges Menard with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1), 206(2), and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-8 thereunder, and seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and a bar from acting as an officer or director of any public company. The complaint also names Jean-Louis as a relief defendant and seeks disgorgement plus prejudgment interest. The New York Regional Office is committed to helping educate communities targeted by fraud through its FraudWise project. The goal of FraudWise is to teach affected communities how to identify investment scams and give them the tools they need to prevent frauds. For more information: SEC.gov | FraudWise Project Works to Protect Targeted Communities The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Olivia Zach and Thomas Feretic of the New York Regional Office and supervised by Celeste Chase and Tejal Shah. The litigation will be led by Travis Hill and supervised by Daniel Loss. SEC Complaint
OCR text (3,105c · html-text · 99% conf)
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26019 / June 11, 2024 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Marc Henry Menard, No. 24-cv-4149 (E.D.N.Y. filed June 11, 2024) SEC Charges Individual in Fraudulent Investment Scheme Targeting the Haitian-American Community The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it filed charges against Marc Henry Menard in the Eastern District of New York for allegedly defrauding more than fifty individuals, many from the Haitian-American community, of at least $1.65 million. According to the SEC’s complaint, from approximately July 2021 through September 2023, Menard solicited investments by misrepresenting his past investment success, how he would use investor funds, and the returns investors would receive. The complaint alleges that Menard told a number of investors that their funds would be used to trade in stocks and options, and that Menard purportedly guaranteed interest payments of 10 to 20 percent per month. As alleged in the complaint, Menard was not the successful investor he claimed to be, losing nearly $700,000 trading securities, primarily using investors’ funds. As further alleged in the complaint, Menard misappropriated a significant amount of investor money for his personal use by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury vehicles, international travel, gifts, rent, and other personal expenses, as well as to make payments to prior investors in a Ponzi-like manner. In addition, as alleged in the complaint, Menard diverted significant amounts of investor money to Laesha Jean-Louis, with whom he had a romantic relationship. Finally, the complaint alleges that when Menard could no longer make promised interest payments to investors or repay the principal on their investments, Menard resorted to additional falsehoods to conceal his scheme. The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charges Menard with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1), 206(2), and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-8 thereunder, and seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and a bar from acting as an officer or director of any public company. The complaint also names Jean-Louis as a relief defendant and seeks disgorgement plus prejudgment interest. The New York Regional Office is committed to helping educate communities targeted by fraud through its FraudWise project. The goal of FraudWise is to teach affected communities how to identify investment scams and give them the tools they need to prevent frauds. For more information: SEC.gov | FraudWise Project Works to Protect Targeted Communities The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Olivia Zach and Thomas Feretic of the New York Regional Office and supervised by Celeste Chase and Tejal Shah. The litigation will be led by Travis Hill and supervised by Daniel Loss. SEC Complaint