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Note: Fotios Geivelis Jr. (Fraudster) is the sole managing member and owner of Worldwide Funding III Limited, LLC, which is a Florida based limited liability company.

Fraudster obtained and defrauded investors of approximately USD 3,900,000 through the offer and sale of investments in a fictitious prime bank investment trading program run by his company. According to the complaint Fraudster also “told investors that a USD 60,000 to USD 90,000 investment would generate profits of at least 6,660,000 Euros within 15 to 45 business days, and earn profits of approximately 14% per week for 40 to 42 weeks”. Fraudster falsely claimed that investor’s funds were deposited in an attorney’s trust account and could only be released on proof of a 10,000,000 Euro standby letter of credit that was supposedly deposited into a securities trading program. The complaint also stated that, “instead of using the funds to obtain SBLCs, he misappropriated investors’ funds with the attorney and him each taking approximately 45% of the investor’s funds and paying approximately 10% to sales agents who located the investors”. The complaint further alleges that Fraudster used “investors’ money on personal expenses including hotels, casinos, restaurants, strip clubs, automobiles, clothing, and jewelry”.

The SEC sued Fraudster jointly along with several others before the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in which Fraudster was ordered to pay USD 2,149,680 in civil money penalties, USD 126,708 in prejudgment interest, and jointly and severally to pay USD 2,149,680 in disgorgement of ill-gotten gains.

In a criminal trial before the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Fraudster submitted an offer of settlement which the commission has accepted. Fraudster plead guilty to (1) devising the scheme of using false pretenses to defraud investors, (2) misrepresenting the rate of return on their investments, (3) providing false documents to reassure investors of legitimacy, (4) and perpetuating fraud via interstate commerce by wiring money between Florida and Pennsylvania.

Pursuant to Fraudster’s offer the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania ordered him to be barred from association with brokerage and investment figures and professionals with conditional reentry.

In a separate criminal proceeding, U.S. v. Geivelis, Crim. No. 2:13-cr-307-NBF-1, Fraudster pled guilty to one count of wire fraud.

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