He allegedly guaranteed no losses. His clients lost up to 89% of their money.
SEC charges unregistered advisor with defrauding clients through fake credentials, false guarantees, and misleading AI trading claims
A New Jersey man is facing SEC fraud charges after allegedly bilking three clients out of more than $1.6 million through a scheme built on fabricated credentials and false promises of risk-free, AI-powered trading.
Federal regulators filed a civil action against Joel B. Sofia, 46, of Sewell, New Jersey, accusing him of making material misrepresentations to advisory clients over a nearly four-year period ending in January 2023. Sofia has never been registered with the SEC in any capacity and never held any securities licenses.
The SEC alleges that Sofia cultivated client trust by claiming he had enjoyed a successful career as an options trader at a registered broker-dealer. He allegedly told one client he had over 20 years of experience trading options, including at a bank. Another was told his trading system drew on more than three decades of professional experience. None of it was true, regulators say.
Sofia also allegedly guaranteed clients would never lose money and claimed to use proprietary AI software that "fully automated the trading process and always captured the upside while completely eliminating the downside." The SEC says those representations were false and misleading.
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