Fake Trading Guru Used YouTube Channel to Lure $18 Million In Alleged Ponzi Scheme

Federal supervisors accused a 40-year-old dealer in Dallas property choices of a Ponzi schedule of $ 18 million that centered totally on members of his personal spiritual neighborhood in Northern Texas.

The Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) submitted fraud prices towards Arsalan Rawjani and his funding agency, commerce with Ayasa LLC, for alleged promising assured month-to-month returns from 3% to five% of choices commerce to pay for earlier prospects.

Rawjani operated the regulation from 2021 to 2024 and positioned himself as an skilled dealer throughout the Ismaili -Muslim neighborhood the place he served as an lively member and chief. Judicial paperwork present that he collected round $ 18 million from traders in the course of the three -year interval.

Commerce claims don’t correspond to financial institution particulars

The SEC grievance reveals a major hole between the guarantees of Rawjani and its precise buying and selling exercise. Though he claimed that investor funds can be merged for worthwhile choices commerce, it seems of financial institution particulars, solely about $ 1 million of the $ 18 million that when reached an actual property agent account for precise commerce.

Of the $ 1 million despatched to brokers, lower than $ 166,000 returned as commerce income, nowhere shut sufficient to finance the assured month-to-month funds which might be promised to dozens of traders.

“Rawjani, who was wrongly represented to traders and potential traders that he had a profitable pooled funding program that supplied assured month-to-month dividend funds and head safety,” the SEC said in his grievance.

As a substitute of producing effectivity through buying and selling experience, Rawjani trusted on basic Ponzi schedule -mechanics. When the commerce with the Ayasa checking account solely had $ 41,916 in April 2022, two new investments of a complete of $ 45,000 arrived the following day. Inside two weeks, the corporate paid $ 55,000 in dividends to current traders.

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Private expenditure leaked funding pool

Judicial archiving describe how Rawjani was diverted thousands and thousands of traders funds for private use. Between April 2021 and March 2024 he withdrew $ 4.3 million for himself from the top commerce with Ayasa account, whereas sending one other $ 226,000 to individuals who share his final identify.

Financial institution particulars present checks written to Rawjani with memo -lines studying “Fee”, “month-to-month committee” and “April Bonus”. His spouse obtained funds marked with “Hawaii Journey”, “Fee/Canada Journey” and consultancy prices, regardless of the availability of no precise companies to the corporate.

The scheme started to unravel on the finish of 2023 when Rawjani might now not entice new traders to finance the promised funds. Checks began bouncing, however he continued to ask new prospects till June 2024, so he collected greater than $ 2 million throughout a interval by which he couldn’t pay current traders.

Tales about alleged fraudsters who exploit native communities with funding packages that appear too good to be true are the bread and butter of the sec. FinancetMagnates.com lately reported that the regulator discovered practically $ 4 million from the widow of a deceased funding adviser who led a Ponzi scheme that endangered greater than 50 traders from $ 29 million over a interval of 11 years.

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Neighborhood Belief has been exploited by YouTube

Rawjani constructed credibility throughout the Ismaili neighborhood partly by his on-line presence. He maintained YouTube and Discord channels with day by day commerce classes, giving traders the impression that they might see him generate their returns in actual time.

Then investor’s clarification demanded a proof for missed funds, Rawjani supplied false reass the reassurance. In Might 2024 he advised prospects that financial institution investigations had frozen $ 1.35 million to be launched in mid -June. Judicial paperwork present that the financial institution had already concluded the commerce with the Ayasa accounts and transferred a definitive stability of solely $ 32,471.

In a very brutal deception, Rawjani confirmed a fearful investor what a $ 14 million brokerage stability stability gave the impression to be on his laptop computer display. The investor later found that Rawjani had proven the investor’s personal private account, with an actual stability of solely $ 400.

Authorized construction designed to confuse

Rawjani operated by a number of firms with restricted legal responsibility in three states, all with the assistance of variations of the identify “Commerce with Ayasa”. The Texas entity was resolved in 2022 for tax offense, adopted by the Wyoming model in 2024, however Rawjani continued to make use of the names of the dissolved firms on investor agreements.

This enterprise scale recreation helped with the true nature of his actions whereas retaining an look of legitimacy for brand spanking new traders.

The SEC is in search of provisional assist, denial of unlawfully obtained revenue and civil fines towards Rawjani and his varied commerce with Ayasa entities. The case was submitted to the federal courtroom in Dallas.

A while in the past the committee additionally calculated the adviser John Woods and its firms, who had collected greater than $ 110 million of greater than 400 traders as a part of the alleged Ponzi scheme.