Steven Labriola Receives Final Judgement

On July 14, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it has obtained a final judgment in a fraud case against Steven Labriola, the international sales director of a pyramid scheme targeting Latino communities.

The final judgment, entered on consent by a federal district court in Boston, Massachusetts, permanently enjoins Steven Labriola from violating Section 5 and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, imposes a conduct-based injunction, and orders Steven Labriola to pay approximately $25,000 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest. As part of the settlement, Steven Labriola admitted that he was responsible for TelexFree’s relationships with its promoters, ran numerous training conferences, and that he was one of the main public faces of TelexFree, providing periodic “corporate updates” and appearing in other promotional videos that were posted on YouTube.The SEC has previously obtained a final judgment by consent against a promoter of TelexFree, who also was ordered to jail for civil contempt arising from his repeated violations of court orders. Two other defendants in the SEC’s action – James Merrill, the co-owner and president of TelexFree, and Carlos Wanzeler, the co-owner and treasurer of TelexFree – were charged criminally. Merrill pled guilty to the criminal charges and was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. Wanzeler is a fugitive from justice.

The SEC’s litigation continues against TelexFree, Merrill, Wanzeler, Joseph Craft, Telexfree’s CFO, and the remaining promoters of the alleged TelexFree pyramid scheme.

For further information about this securities law blog post, please contact Brenda Hamilton, Securities Attorney at 101 Plaza Real S, Suite 202 N, Boca Raton, Florida, (561) 416-8956, or [email protected].  This securities law blog post is provided as a general informational service to clients and friends of Hamilton & Associates Law Group and should not be construed as, and does not constitute legal advice on any specific matter, nor does this message create an attorney-client relationship. Please note that the prior results discussed herein do not guarantee similar outcomes.

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Brenda Hamilton, Securities Attorney
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