CoinVoice has recently learned that according to DL News, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Texas fund manager Khalid Parekh of illegally investing $18.5 million of customer funds in cryptocurrencies without customer consent.
According to SEC disclosures, from August 2021 to August 2022, Parekh raised $18.5 million from 373 investors in 40 states through his wholly-owned company Fair Invest. He mainly attracted investors from the American Muslim community through radio shows, podcasts and media interviews, and claimed that his fund complied with Islamic law.
Parekh promised investors an annualized return of 4%, claiming that these returns came from traditional assets such as stocks, mutual funds, commodities and ETFs. However, the SEC's allegations show that he actually invested customer funds in two cryptocurrency lending platforms without informing investors.
During the SEC investigation, Parekh has returned client funds along with the promised 4% return. In addition, he agreed to pay a $100,000 fine and have his SEC registration as an investment advisor revoked. [Original link]