The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against the estate and business of a deceased advisor for allegedly operating a fraudulent multiyear investment offering that raised $29.3 million from more than 50 investors.
The SEC said the estate of the late Stephen Romney Swensen, 50, of Kaysville, Utah, “continues to violate the federal securities laws by disseminating false and misleading statements to investors” on its website. In addition to his businesses, the complaint named Swensen’s widow, Wendy Swensen, 51, Saria Rodriguez, 30, also of Utah, and three other businesses with ties to Swensen as relief defendants. Both received proceeds from Swensen’s fraud, for which they had “no legitimate claim,” the complaint said.
The agency alleged that investors money is still “being spent and otherwise dissipated” by Swensen’s business, Crew Capital Group in Nevada, and the relief defendants.
The complaint alleged that Swensen, who died June 6, falsely convinced investors from 2011 until his death to invest in Crew Capital Group, a limited liability company he created in 2010 that the SEC said had no actual business operations other than Swensen’s efforts to raise investments for the entity.
Swensen fraudulently induced investors to invest in Crew…
