Litigation Release No. 24495 / June 10, 2019
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Leon Vaccarelli, et al., No. 3:17-cv-01471 (D. Conn., filed Aug. 31, 2017)
United States v. Leon Vaccarelli, No. 18-cr-92-SRU (D. Conn., filed May 2, 2018)
On May 29, 2019, a Connecticut man charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with fraudulently persuading several customers to invest with him and then spending their money on his own living and business expenses was found guilty by a federal jury in a parallel criminal case.
The criminal charges against Leon Vaccarelli arose from the same conduct alleged in the SEC’s complaint against Vaccarelli (d/b/a LUX Financial Services) and his company, LWLVACC, LLC. The SEC’s complaint alleged that Vaccarelli defrauded at least nine investors, several of whom were elderly, of over $1,000,000. Instead of investing the customers’ funds in investment accounts and other investment opportunities as promised, Vaccarelli used the funds for his own living and business expenses. In some instances, he used the customers’ funds to pay back prior investors. According to the SEC’s complaint, Vaccarelli asked one customer to sign an agreement that she would not provide certain information to FINRA or the SEC. The SEC’s complaint also alleged that Vaccarelli sold more than $450,000 in securities that were held in trust and used some of the proceeds to pay business and personal expenses.
The SEC obtained a temporary restraining order stopping the ongoing fraud and an asset freeze against Vaccarelli and LWLVACC, LLC on August 31, 2017. For further information, please see Litigation Release No. 23927. The SEC’s litigation against Vaccarelli and LWLVACC, LLC continues.
A federal jury found Vaccarelli guilty on 21 counts of fraud and money laundering charges in the parallel criminal case. His sentencing is scheduled for August 22, 2019.