SEC Charges Founder and His Two New Jersey-Based Companies in Alleged $16 Million Ponzi Scheme

This text is not the issuer's. It was produced by a language model from the official document, then checked automatically against DFIN's neutrality rules. The title above is carried verbatim.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Sept. 10, 2026, that it charged Ernest Ossei Boateng and his two New Jersey-based companies, Intercontinental Wealth Network LLC and I Wealth Network LP, with operating an alleged $16 million Ponzi scheme that raised money from more than 200 investors between at least January 2020 and March 2026. According to the SEC's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Boateng allegedly misappropriated more than $5.8 million for personal expenses, used approximately $6.6 million for Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors, and incurred more than $750,000 in trading losses through high-risk day trading. The complaint charges the defendants with violating antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and, for Boateng and Intercontinental, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement with pre-judgment interest, civil penalties, and conduct-based injunctions against Boateng and Intercontinental. The SEC attributed a statement to Thomas P. Smith,

Produced by claude-sonnet-5