USFIA @ BehindMLM

Back in January a proposed $145.4 million dollar settlement between Steve Chen and the SEC was filed. On March 13th Judge Klausner approved the settlement proposal and ordered Final Judgement against Chen.

On January 9th, the day before a scheduled trial to determine monetary relief, the SEC and Steve Chen attended a settlement conference. A settlement was reached, pending formal approval by the Commission (SEC attorneys can’t accept a settlement agreement of their own accord). Unfortunately Commission approval of the settlement is anticipated to take “approximately six weeks”.

Despite having summary judgement granted against him, Steve Chen is still fighting the SEC in court. The SEC allege Steve Chen’s USFIA was ‘a massive pyramid scheme that defrauded myriad investors‘. Following Judge Klausner’s summary judgement ruling, this is no longer a point of contention. Rather Chen is challenging the SEC how much monetary relief he should [Continue reading…]

Following a scathing summary judgement decision that saw USFIA labelled a Ponzi scheme and Steve Chen the scammer who operated it, the SEC’s case against USFIA seemed all but over. Despite effectively losing the case, Steve Chen is still fighting it out to the bitter end.

In an effort to save time, last month the SEC filed for summary judgement against Steve Chen. Chen opposed the filing and argued, among other things, that summary judgement would deprive him of a jury trial. Last we checked in the SEC had filed a reply to Chen’s opposition. The regulator claimed there was “undisputed [Continue reading…]

In his 5th Interim Report, the USFIA Receiver has indicated he expects forensic accounting to be completed around January 2017. Once finalized, the accounting will confirm the entire scope of the USFIA enterprise, the number of investors, or specific amounts invested by investors and distributed to them. As per current accounting progress, the Receivership has [Continue reading…]

Last week we covered the SEC’s Motion For Summary Judgement against USFIA and owner Steve Chen. Chen had filed an opposition to the motion on November 7th which, in my opinion, raised a number of flawed arguments. The SEC has addressed these arguments in a reply brief filed on November 14th.

On October 26th the SEC filed for summary judgement against USFIA and owner Steve Chen. Chen responded in opposition to the SEC’s filing on November 7th. Both filings are pretty long, coming in at thirty and twenty-six pages respectively. Below I’ve separated both filings into headers, with my own conclusion at the end.

It wasn’t long into researching BehindMLM’s USFIA review that came across photos of John Wuo with USFIA management. Wuo was an elected government official of the City of Arcadia, California, so his potential involvement in USFIA was concerning. As USFIA’s presence continued to grow in Arcadia, residents began to question Wuo’s involvement in the scheme. Less [Continue reading…]

A joint-stipulation filed by the SEC and Steve Chen on September 30th had asked for a delay in proceedings of four months. Judge Klausner has rejected the rescheduling and preserved the original January 10th trial date.