The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against Massachusetts resident Norman V. Meier, for allegedly conducting a multi-million dollar securities fraud involving the offer and sale of several stocks to investors in Europe and the United States.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that, from June 2015 to December 2023, Meier received more than $7.9 million from over 180 European investors and three U.S. investors.
The SEC alleges in the complaint that Meier engaged teams of cold-callers in Europe who used fake names and solicited investments in companies created by Meier or his associates that had little or no actual business operations, as well as phony securities purportedly offered by well-known companies to which Meier and his teams of cold-callers had no real connection.
The SEC further alleges in the complaint that Meier’s victims wired funds to bank accounts in the United States that Meier controlled.
As alleged, rather than investing funds as promised, Meier misappropriated money for his own use and to pay his overseas sales network to lure additional investors.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, charges Meier with violating the antifraud provisions of 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.
The complaint names as relief defendants five companies associated with Meier, including: Treuhand, Inc., Norman Meier International, Inc., a/k/a NMI, Inc., Windeco Corporation, Texxon Oil Corp., and International Financial Services, Inc., a/k/a IFS, Inc., a/k/a IFS, Inc. d/b/a IRM, Inc., which allegedly received proceeds from the investor funds.