On November 22, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered a final judgment by consent against Guillaume David Boccara, a Dallas, Texas investment professional. The SEC had recently charged Boccara with engaging in a deceptive trading scheme in which he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from a family fund whose money he was employed to manage and entrusted to trade. To settle the charges against him, Boccara agreed to pay disgorgement and penalties of more than $860,000 and consented to other injunctive relief.

According to the SEC's complaint, filed on August 26, 2021, from at least January 2019 through June 2021, Boccara used his access to the family fund's account to make hundreds of trades between the family fund and himself to generate over $500,000 in illicit profits. Boccara's allegedly illegal trades included buying options from the family fund and then selling the same options back at higher prices, buying options from the family fund and then selling those options on the open market for a profit, and selling worthless options to the family fund and pocketing the profit.

Without admitting or denying the allegations of the complaint, Boccara consented to entry of the final judgment, which enjoins Boccara from violating the antifraud provisions of Sections 17(a)(1) and (3) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rules 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder; enjoins Boccara from trading in any brokerage account held on behalf of another individual and from opening any additional brokerage account without first providing the broker-dealer firm with a copy of the judgment; and orders him to pay disgorgement of $510,921 with prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty in the amount of $350,000.

In a related administrative proceeding instituted on December 2, 2021, Boccara consented to the entry of a Commission order that bars him from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Jay A. Scoggins, Matthew O. Koop, Mandy B. Sturmfelz, and Danielle R. Voorhees of the Market Abuse Unit and was supervised by Market Abuse Unit Chief, Joseph G. Sansone. The SEC's litigation was led by Terry R. Miller, Kenneth E. Stalzer, and Matthew Gulde under the supervision of Gregory A. Kasper. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.