Feds File for $300 Million Judgment Against Nikolai Battoo
Every week we get calls from victims of Nikolai Battoo and his several Ponzi schemes – PIWM, Maven & BC Capital. Battoo has been hiding out in Switzerland since the SEC started pursuing him in September of 2012. The SEC’s case was been delayed for months because of the inability of the government to serve Battoo. Finally, in 2013 the court permitted alternate service and Battoo was subsequently defaulted for failure to appear. Last week, the government asked the court to shut down Battoo for good.
On January 13th, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a motion for final judgment against Nikolai Battoo, and BC Capital. In that motion, the government seeks to permanently enjoin Battoo from committing any further securities violations. In addition, the government is also seeking a judgment for $272,600,000. That is the amount of the profits they say he made from his Ponzi scheme.
With civil penalties and interest, the amount of the judgment against Nikolai Battoo will likely exceed $300 million.
While it is good news that Battoo will be shut down for good, there is no guarantee that his victims will collect a nickel from him. Already a US receivership and Bahamas liquidation proceeding are fighting over the few scraps of money recovered to date.
Unfortunately for investors, a judgment is merely a piece of paper. Unless assets are located, recovering a judgment doesn’t mean that investors will be made whole by the SEC. Chances of that happening are very slim.
So what is next for victims?
Investors who purchased made their investments in PIWM or Maven through a stockbroker may have a claim a against the individual broker and the brokerage firm. Time is limited for these claims; if you think you have a claim and haven’t filed yet don’t delay another day.
People who purchased through Tracy Sunderlage or Nikolai Battoo don’t have as many options but those folks should make sure the court appointed receivers have their claim. Applying is free and you won’t have to pay any money to be included in any future distributions.
Some people invested in Maven and PIWM indirectly. There were several hedge funds that claim to have invested in Battoo’s funds including Anchor Hedge, Galaxy and Futures OneDiversified. If you purchased one of these funds, the same advice applies. Make sure you have filed a claim with the receivers and contact us if you invested through a broker, investment adviser or other third party.
Financial advisers and agents are responsible for conducting meaningful due diligence on the products they recommend. Unfortunately, many of these “professionals” were more motivated by the high commissions these investments paid and did not act in the best interests of their clients.
We have teamed up with Chapman Law to pursue these claims against PIWM, Maven, Anchor Hedge Fund, First Fidelity, BC Capital and others who may be associated Nikolai Battoo and Tracy Sunderlage. We have successfully brought claims against insurance agents too.
If you wish to discuss fraud losses in general, contact the author at or by telephone at (414) 704-6731 (direct). Have a claim involving PIWM, Battoo, Sunderlage, Maven, Galaxy or Anchor? We can help!
Post by Brian Mahany, Esq.
Tagged: PIWM fraud, Maven fraud, Battoo fraud, Nikolai Battoo, Tracy Sunderlage