The Arizona Corporation Commission ordered Tony Spooner of Glendale, First Federal Security, Inc., and Rokay Unlimited, LLC to pay $774,158 in restitution and a $50,000 administrative penalty for defrauding investors.
The Commission found the respondents offered and sold unregistered securities and notes issued by companies controlled by EquiAlt, LLC to at least 47 investors, the majority of whom were senior citizens investing a significant portion of their life savings. However, the respondents were not registered to offer or sell securities in Arizona.
The Commission found the respondents, during the offer or sale of EquiAlt securities, made material misrepresentations and omissions to the investors regarding the securities’ risk and liquidity.
The Corporation Commission found Spooner and his affiliated companies represented to investors that EquiAlt, LLC was raising capital to purchase, improve, lease, and dispose of distressed real property. In actuality, EquiAlt, LLC was operating as a nationwide Ponzi scheme.