| Date filed | Defendants | Scale (per SEC) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 9, 2026 | Linqto, Inc. executives | $430+ million in SPV interests sold | Litigated (allegations) |
| September 30, 2026 | Meyer Global Management LLC | Nearly $3 million SpaceX-related position forfeited (per SEC) | Litigated (allegations) |
| August 14, 2026 | The Spaventa Group LLC, TSG Capital Advisors LLC, TSG Alpha Partners LLC | $74+ million from 800+ investors | Litigated (allegations) |
| August 10, 2026 | Adit Ventures Management LLC and affiliated general partners | Millions in undisclosed fees; $10 million credit line secured by client assets (per SEC) | Consented to judgment without admitting or denying; remedies to be set by court |
| September 30, 2024 | Keyport Venture entities, the Pre IPO Marketplace Inc., and related companies | ~$120 million from 900+ investors | Litigated; Wilkos agreed to settle (injunction, remedies later) |
| June 7, 2024 | StraightPath Venture Partners / Legend Venture Partners sales leaders | $184+ million raised; $45+ million in fees | Civil and criminal (allegations); StraightPath and Legend in court-ordered receiverships |
| December 7, 2023 | Prior 2 IPO Inc., Late Stage Asset Management LLC, Pre IPO Marketing Inc., JL Rivera Enterprises Ltd. | $528+ million from 4,000+ investors; $88+ million in undisclosed fees | Litigated (allegations) |
Case summaries
Linqto, Inc. executives (William Sarris and Joseph Endoso)
The SEC charged two former executives of San Jose-based Linqto, Inc., an online platform that sold retail investors exposure to pre-IPO "unicorn" companies. According to the complaint, a Linqto subsidiary sold more than $430 million of special purpose vehicle (SPV) interests from at least 2021 to 2024.
The SEC alleges the executives (1) represented that prices reflected current market conditions or were below market when almost all offerings were priced above fair value; (2) labeled offerings "sold out" or "fully subscribed" when more shares were available; (3) claimed an algorithm set prices dynamically when staff set them manually; and (4) told investors Linqto complied with federal securities laws after counsel had advised otherwise. The complaint also alleges unregistered investment companies and unregistered sales to non-accredited investors.
Context: Linqto filed for Chapter 11 in July 2025, and a reorganization plan was confirmed on February 6, 2026. The SEC action names the former executives individually, not the company.
What investors can learn: An online platform with a slick interface is still a seller. "Sold out" urgency, automated-pricing claims, and compliance assurances are all things you can and should verify.
Meyer Global Management LLC (Owen E. H. Meyer)
The SEC charged private fund adviser Meyer Global Management and its CEO with defrauding investors and the funds it managed in connection with SpaceX and other pre-IPO securities, in a series of schemes running from at least December 2021.
The SEC alleges the defendants misappropriated fund assets to pay personal expenses, sent investors statements with inflated account values, required some investors to sign releases accepting less than they were owed in order to receive any distribution, and repeatedly failed to cure a capital-call deficiency, causing a fund to forfeit a nearly $3 million SpaceX-related investment.
What investors can learn: Ask whether you own the shares or a fund that owns a fund that owns the shares. Every layer is a point of failure. Never sign a release to get your money back without a lawyer reviewing it.
The Spaventa Group LLC, TSG Capital Advisors LLC, TSG Alpha Partners LLC (Andrew Spaventa)
The SEC charged New York resident Andrew Spaventa and three entities he controlled with raising more than $74 million from more than 800 mostly retail investors for eleven private funds between approximately December 2020 and June 2025.
According to the complaint, more than 100 "sales agents" cold-called prospects, many of them retirees, using high-pressure tactics. Investors were told they would pay no upfront fees or at most 12.5%, but the SEC alleges investors paid on average about 46% more than Spaventa paid for the underlying shares. The defendants allegedly collected about $23 million in upfront fees, more than $12 million of which went to sales agents and about $4 million to Spaventa personally.
What investors can learn: A cold call about pre-IPO shares is the single most common opening move in these cases. Ask for the price the fund paid per share, in writing, and compare it to your price.
Adit Ventures Management LLC and affiliated general partners (Eric Munson)
The SEC charged New York-based adviser Adit Ventures Management, its CEO Eric Munson, and three affiliated general partners with defrauding investors and client funds in pre-IPO investments, including SpaceX and Klarna shares, from at least April 2019 through December 2024.
The SEC alleges the defendants falsely claimed a fund owned a pre-IPO company's stock, took unsecured loans from funds without authorization, bought shares and resold them to client funds at higher prices without required consent, charged unauthorized "acquisition fees," and pledged client assets for a $10 million line of credit used partly to pay their own obligations. Without admitting the allegations, the defendants consented to permanent injunctions with disgorgement and penalties to be determined by the court, and Munson agreed to an associational bar.
What investors can learn: When your manager buys shares first and then sells them to your fund, that is a principal transaction with a built-in conflict. You are entitled to know the manager's cost basis.
Keyport Venture entities, the Pre IPO Marketplace Inc., and related companies (John LoPinto, Robert Wilkos, Laren Pisciotti)
The SEC charged three individuals in the New York area and six entities, including Keyport Venture Partners, Keyport Venture Management, Keyport Venture Advisors, the Pre IPO Marketplace Inc., Principal Pre-IPO Consulting Group, and GlobalX VC, with raising about $120 million from more than 900 investors from October 2019 to December 2022.
The SEC alleges investors were told there were no upfront fees while the defendants paid themselves at least $16 million in commissions, that funds were falsely described as SEC-registered, and that funds claimed to own pre-IPO shares they did not own. LoPinto allegedly used an alias to hide a disciplinary history that included prior SEC and FINRA sanctions. Many investors allegedly never received the shares they paid for.
What investors can learn: Search every name you are given in BrokerCheck and the SEC Action Lookup. Then ask whether the person has ever used another name. An alias is a reason to walk away.
StraightPath Venture Partners / Legend Venture Partners sales leaders (Mario Gogliormella, Steven Lacaj, Karim Ibrahim)
The SEC charged three New Yorkers with fraud for selling unregistered LLC interests that purported to hold pre-IPO shares, first for StraightPath Venture Partners (subject of an SEC emergency action in May 2022) and later for Legend Venture Partners (subject of an emergency action in June 2023). The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed a parallel indictment the same day.
The SEC alleges the defendants directed an unregistered boiler-room sales force of more than 50 callers who used scripts and pressure tactics and did not disclose that shares were marked up by roughly 19% to 105% on average above what StraightPath or Legend had paid. The defendants and sales force allegedly collected more than $45 million in fees from 2019 to 2022.
What investors can learn: Shutting down one firm does not stop the people. After StraightPath was halted, the same sales leaders allegedly moved to a new brand. Check the people, not just the company name.
Prior 2 IPO Inc., Late Stage Asset Management LLC, Pre IPO Marketing Inc., JL Rivera Enterprises Ltd. (Raymond J. Pirrello Jr. and others)
The SEC charged five unregistered brokers and four New York- and New Jersey-based companies with raising at least $528 million in unregistered pre-IPO offerings from more than 4,000 investors worldwide through a nationwide network of unregistered sales agents.
According to the complaint, investors were told there were no upfront fees and that the sellers would profit only after the companies went public. The SEC alleges every investor was charged undisclosed upfront markups, some as high as 150%, and the defendants and agents kept more than $88 million. The SEC also alleges the participants worked to hide Pirrello's role because he had previously been barred from the brokerage industry.
What investors can learn: "No upfront fees, we only get paid when it IPOs" is a script line that appears in case after case. It is a reason to ask harder questions, not a reason to relax.
Patterns across these cases
- Hidden markups are the core of the fraud in most cases, not fake companies.
- Unregistered sales forces appear in Spaventa, StraightPath/Legend, Keyport, and Prior 2 IPO.
- Layered structures obscured ownership in Meyer Global and Keyport.
- Concealed histories: aliases and hidden industry bars appear in Keyport and Prior 2 IPO.
Read the SEC's investor alert on pre-IPO investment scams.