SEC v. Francis Biller; Raymond Dove; Chester Alvarez; Troy Gran-Brooks; Justin Plaizier; Shredderz International Corp.; Edward Clarke; Lia Patricia Sepulveda Salazar; and Edward Lopez Giraldo — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Litigation Release No. 26670, dated October 8, 2026.
The SEC charged five individuals and one entity with operating a boiler room that used high-pressure sales tactics to sell microcap stocks. They allegedly made false statements about the stocks and their own roles, generating over $58 million in trading proceeds. Final judgments were obtained against five defendants, resulting in injunctions, penny stock bars, and orders to pay millions in disgorgement, interest, and civil penalties.
Imagine a group of people running a special phone call center. They called people up and pressured them to buy stocks in very small companies. They lied about how good these stocks were and about their own involvement. They made over $58 million from these sales. The SEC stepped in and got judgments against most of them, making them pay back money and banning them from selling penny stocks.
Disclaimer: all facts are drawn from the SEC's own filings; the claims described are allegations unless and until a court rules or the parties settle, and some cases end in dismissal.
The SEC announced today that it obtained final judgments as to five defendants in connection with an alleged microcap fraud. The SEC’s complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on March 14, 2022, alleged that from at least January 2016 through at least July 2018 Francis Biller, Chester Alvarez, Troy Gran-Brooks, Justin Plaizier, and Raymond Dove schemed to operate a call center, colloquially known as a boiler room, through which they used high pressure sales tactics to sell the stocks of numerous small United States-based public companies to United States investors. As alleged, the defendants’ sales tactics included making false or misleading statements about their own roles in promoting the stock they were touting, and about the companies whose stock they were touting. According to the SEC’s complaint, the defendants promoted the stock of at least 18 issuers, generated more than $58 million in trading proceeds, and, along with the relief defendants, including Shredderz International Corp.—an entity controlled by Dove—received millions of dollars in payments pursuant to the alleged fraudulent scheme. The Court entered final consent judgments as to Alvarez, Gran-Brooks, and Plaizier on January 24, 2025 and a final consent judgment as to Biller on February 21, 2025. Pursuant to those judgments, Biller, Alvarez, Gran-Brooks, and Plaizier were enjoined from violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Alvarez was further enjoined from violating Section 9(a)(2) of the Exchange Act. In addition, the judgments imposed permanent penny stock bars upon Biller, Alvarez, Gran-Brooks, and Plaizier and ordered them to pay disgorgement plus prejudgment interest of $8,392,982; $131,347; $838,101; and $134,652, respectively. In a parallel action, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York filed criminal charges against Biller, Alvarez, Gran-Brooks, and Plaizier. Alvarez, Gran-Brooks, and Plaizier have pleaded guilty and been sentenced in the criminal case; Biller has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. The Court entered a final judgment by default on September 30, 2026 as to Dove. The judgment permanently enjoined Dove from violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and barred him from participating in any offering of penny stock. The judgment also ordered Dove to pay $2,923,446 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and a civil penalty of $1,655,157. The Court denied the SEC’s motion for default as to relief defendant Shredderz International Corp. for lack of personal jurisdiction. The SEC previously dismissed the complaint as to relief defendants Edward Clarke, Lia Patricia Sepulveda Salazar, and Edward Lopez Giraldo. The litigation, which is now concluded, was handled by Kathleen Shields, Alexandra Lavin, and David London in the SEC’s Boston Regional Office.