2023-08-11 sec-litreleases litigation_release 67 KB 3,125 chars

SEC v. Ashraf Mufareh; and ONPASSIVE LLC a/k/a Gofounders and Ofounders, No. LR-25809, Middle District of Florida (Aug. 11, 2023) — Press Release

raw: Ashraf Mufareh; ONPASSIVE LLC a/k/a Gofounders and Ofounders; Asmahan Mufareh (relief defendant)

Ashraf Mufareh; ONPASSIVE LLC a/k/a Gofounders and Ofounders; Asmahan Mufareh (relief defendant), No. 6:23-cv-01539 (Aug. 11, 2023)

Caption
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Mufareh
summary

Ashraf Mufareh and ONPASSIVE LLC are charged by the SEC for orchestrating a $108 million pyramid scheme involving unregistered AI-driven software offerings.

paragraph

The SEC charged Ashraf Mufareh and ONPASSIVE LLC with orchestrating a fraudulent multi-level marketing pyramid scheme that raised over $108 million from 800,000 global investors. The defendants allegedly sold $97 positions promising passive income from AI applications that had not yet commercially launched. The complaint alleges violations of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, seeking disgorgement, penalties, and an officer and director bar.

narrative

The SEC has charged Ashraf Mufareh and his company, ONPASSIVE LLC, for orchestrating a fraudulent multi-level marketing pyramid scheme that raised over $108 million from more than 800,000 investors since 2018. The defendants allegedly promised passive income through a suite of AI-driven applications, but failed to launch any products by June 2023. To deceive investors, the defendants utilized counterfeit websites to mimic third-party review sites and mask negative feedback. The SEC's complaint alleges violations of registration and antifraud provisions under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The litigation seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil penalties, and an officer and director bar against Mufareh. Additionally, Mufareh's spouse, Asmahan Mufareh, has been named as a relief defendant.

Enriched metadata

Scheme
investment-adviser-fraud (65%)
Court
Middle District of Florida
Case No.
6:23-cv-01539
Victims
800,000
Entity
ONPASSIVE LLC
Classified investment-adviser-fraud(confidence 65%). EDGAR detection: forms ADV/ADV-E/ADV-W/Form D· recall 33% / precision 13%. detection rule →
Parties
Securities and Exchange CommissionAsmahan MufarehBradford D. KimbroAshraf MufarehOnpassive LLCONPASSIVE LLC a/k/a Gofounders and Ofounders
Keywords
mufarehashraf mufarehmufareh onpassivesecurities exchangemulti-level marketingonpassivesecuritiesgofounders ofoundersasmahan mufarehmufareh reliefexchange commissionpyramid schemeinvestorsashrafllc

Exhibits & Attached Documents (2)

Extracted insights

Dollar amounts 1
  • $108.00M $108 million $100M–$1B
Entities 2
  • company ashraf mufareh and onpassive llc
  • agency Securities and Exchange Commission
Triples 9
  • Securities And Exchange Commission sues Ashraf Mufareh and Onpassive LLC
  • Ashraf Mufareh and Onpassive LLC raised over $108 million from over 800,000 investors across the globe
  • Ashraf Mufareh and Onpassive LLC sold investors positions in a multi-level marketing arrangement for $97
  • Ashraf Mufareh and Onpassive LLC made material misrepresentations about the timing of the commercial product launch, the magnitude of anticipated profits, and the legality of the defendants' operations
  • Ashraf Mufareh and Onpassive LLC created websites and posted positive reviews to counter negative reviews on existing sites
  • Ashraf Mufareh and Onpassive LLC mimicked existing sites' names and logos to deceive readers
  • Securities And Exchange Commission charges Ashraf Mufareh and Onpassive LLC with violating Sections 5(a), 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 17(a), 10(b), Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
  • Securities And Exchange Commission seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and an officer and director bar against Ashraf Mufareh
  • Securities And Exchange Commission names Asmahan Mufareh as a relief defendant
PDF (from attached: complaint)
Text layers
Extracted body text (3,125c)
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 25809 / August 11, 2023 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ashraf Mufareh and ONPASSIVE LLC a/k/a Gofounders and Ofounders, No. 6:23-cv-01539 (M.D. Fla. filed August 11, 2023) SEC Sues Alleged Perpetrators of Fraudulent Multi-Level Marketing Scheme and Unregistered Offering The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Ashraf Mufareh of Orlando, Florida, and his company, ONPASSIVE LLC (together, the "defendants"), for orchestrating a fraudulent and unregistered offering. The SEC's complaint alleges that, since 2018, the defendants have fraudulently raised over $108 million from over 800,000 investors across the globe, including in the United States. The defendants allegedly claimed to be developing a suite of computer applications using artificial intelligence. According to the complaint, the defendants sold investors positions in a multi-level marketing arrangement for $97 wherein the investors would earn passive income from subscription fees paid by later investors. The passive income payments allegedly were to commence on ONPASSIVE's commercial rollout of the computer applications, but, as of June 2023, the defendants allegedly had not yet commercially launched any applications or commenced paying commissions. Per the complaint, the ONPASSIVE program is a pyramid scheme. In furtherance of the pyramid scheme, the defendants allegedly made material misrepresentations about the timing of the commercial product launch, the magnitude of anticipated profits, and the legality of the defendants' operations. The defendants also allegedly created websites and posted positive reviews of the defendants to counter negative reviews on existing sites that review multi-level marketing programs. The counterfeit sites allegedly mimicked the existing sites' names and logos to deceive readers into thinking the reviews were generated by third-parties unassociated with the defendants. The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in the Middle District of Florida, charges Mufareh and ONPASSIVE with violating the registration requirements of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 and the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest thereon on a joint and several basis, civil penalties, and an officer and director bar against Mufareh. The complaint names Mufareh's spouse, Asmahan Mufareh, as a relief defendant. The SEC's investigation was conducted by John Crimmins, with assistance from Benjamin Perlman, and supervised by Nina B. Finston and Carolyn M. Welshhans. The litigation will be led by Gregory Miller and Michael Friedman under the supervision of David Nasse. The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has issued an Investor Alert to encourage investors to be aware of indications that a pyramid scheme may be posing as a multi-level marketing program. SEC Complaint Amended Complaint
OCR text (3,125c · html-text · 99% conf)
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 25809 / August 11, 2023 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ashraf Mufareh and ONPASSIVE LLC a/k/a Gofounders and Ofounders, No. 6:23-cv-01539 (M.D. Fla. filed August 11, 2023) SEC Sues Alleged Perpetrators of Fraudulent Multi-Level Marketing Scheme and Unregistered Offering The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Ashraf Mufareh of Orlando, Florida, and his company, ONPASSIVE LLC (together, the "defendants"), for orchestrating a fraudulent and unregistered offering. The SEC's complaint alleges that, since 2018, the defendants have fraudulently raised over $108 million from over 800,000 investors across the globe, including in the United States. The defendants allegedly claimed to be developing a suite of computer applications using artificial intelligence. According to the complaint, the defendants sold investors positions in a multi-level marketing arrangement for $97 wherein the investors would earn passive income from subscription fees paid by later investors. The passive income payments allegedly were to commence on ONPASSIVE's commercial rollout of the computer applications, but, as of June 2023, the defendants allegedly had not yet commercially launched any applications or commenced paying commissions. Per the complaint, the ONPASSIVE program is a pyramid scheme. In furtherance of the pyramid scheme, the defendants allegedly made material misrepresentations about the timing of the commercial product launch, the magnitude of anticipated profits, and the legality of the defendants' operations. The defendants also allegedly created websites and posted positive reviews of the defendants to counter negative reviews on existing sites that review multi-level marketing programs. The counterfeit sites allegedly mimicked the existing sites' names and logos to deceive readers into thinking the reviews were generated by third-parties unassociated with the defendants. The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in the Middle District of Florida, charges Mufareh and ONPASSIVE with violating the registration requirements of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 and the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest thereon on a joint and several basis, civil penalties, and an officer and director bar against Mufareh. The complaint names Mufareh's spouse, Asmahan Mufareh, as a relief defendant. The SEC's investigation was conducted by John Crimmins, with assistance from Benjamin Perlman, and supervised by Nina B. Finston and Carolyn M. Welshhans. The litigation will be led by Gregory Miller and Michael Friedman under the supervision of David Nasse. The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has issued an Investor Alert to encourage investors to be aware of indications that a pyramid scheme may be posing as a multi-level marketing program. SEC Complaint Amended Complaint