May 15, 2014

The SEC charged Behrooz Sarafraz, a California-based securities salesman for selling millions of dollars in oil-and-gas investments without being registered with the SEC as a broker-dealer or associated with a registered broker-dealer.  According to the SEC’s complaint, Sarafraz acted as the primary salesman on behalf of TVC Opus I Drilling Program and Tri-Valley Corp. which together from February 2002 to April 2010 raised more than $140M million for their oil-and-gas drilling venture.  While Sarafraz was raising money for these entities, he was not associated with any broker-dealer registered with the SEC and thus denied denied investors the protections of regulatory oversight and firm supervision.  He agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by paying disgorgement of his commissions, prejudgment interest, and a penalty for a total of more than $22M.  SEC

Tagged in: Regulatory Violations, Securities Fraud,