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Date: 07-28-2023
Case Style:
Case Number: 8:23-cr-00084
Judge: Mark C. Scarsi
Court: United States District Court for the Central District of California (Orange County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office in Santa Ana
Defendant's Attorney: Sam Josepha and Lindsey Hay
Description: Santa Ana, California criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with securities fraud.
Jacques Poujade, age 63, of Irvine, California, is the owner and chief financial officer of Tri-Emerald Financial Group, a Lake Forest-based realty services company that operated as a residential mortgage lender. Tri-Emerald funded loans as a mortgage banker, with the intent to hold the funded loans for immediate resale to financial institutions that purchased the loans for investments. Neither Tri-Emerald nor its securities were ever registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
From February 2015 to May 2020, Poujade sold unregistered securities to a victim investor by telling the victim a series of lies, including about the timing and likelihood of Tri-Emerald’s initial public offering (IPO) and the resulting share price. The victim purchased shares in Tri-Emerald at $10 per share, after Poujade represented they were “securities” under federal law and would exceed the price of $100 per share once the company went public.
Poujade falsely promised the victim that Tri-Emerald was a pre-IPO opportunity that would provide high returns when the company soon went public on Nasdaq. In fact, Tri-Emerald had not completed the necessary steps to undertake an IPO, including filling out the required SEC paperwork or formally engaging the investment banks Poujade falsely told the victim he had engaged as underwriters.
Poujade admitted that he further lied to the victim by saying one investment bank “was super excited about moving forward” and estimated that Tri-Emerald would “be a billion dollar company in under 16 months,” according to the plea agreement.
He also said Tri-Emerald was using the victim’s investment to cover IPO costs when, in fact, Poujade used a substantial portion of the funds for general Tri-Emerald operating expenses and to make lulling payments and litigation settlement payments to previous Tri-Emerald investors. Poujade also used a portion of the funds for personal expenditures in lieu of taking a salary.
In total, Poujade fraudulently obtained approximately $5,255,600 from the victim.
In his plea agreement, Poujade further admitted to defrauding another victim and that victim’s investment group in July 2016 by convincing them to purchase 30-day promissory notes issued by LendPlus Holdings, another one of Poujade’s companies. These notes purportedly were to be used to increase Tri-Emerald’s warehouse line of credit, which would allow Tri-Emerald to fund a larger volume of mortgages.
At the end of the term of the 30-day promissory notes, instead of repaying victim investors, Poujade continuously rolled victim investors’ funds over into the next month. On numerous occasions, Poujade lulled the victims by falsely claiming their money was safe in a reserve account and LendPlus was using their funds to improve Tri-Emerald’s loan production and line of credit.
In reality, Poujade used a substantial portion of these funds to make lulling payments to previous Tri-Emerald investors, to pay Tri-Emerald’s operating expenses, and for his own personal use, including paying rent on his residence.
Poujade admitted to defrauding these investors out of approximately $915,000.
United States District Judge Mark C. Scarsi scheduled an October 30 sentencing hearing, at which time Poujade will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
The FBI and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General investigated this matter.
Special Assistant United States Attorney Ryan G. Adams of the Santa Ana Branch Office is prosecuting this case.
"Securities fraud is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information. Securities fraud can be committed in a variety of ways, including:
Misrepresentation: This is the most common form of securities fraud. It involves making false or misleading statements about a security or its issuer. For example, a company might falsely claim that it has a new product in development, or that it is about to be acquired by another company.
Omission: This involves failing to disclose material information about a security or its issuer. For example, a company might fail to disclose that it is facing financial problems, or that it has been sued by a government agency.
Insider trading: This involves trading on material, non-public information about a security. For example, an employee of a company might trade in the company's stock based on information about the company's upcoming earnings report.
Market manipulation: This involves artificially inflating or deflating the price of a security. For example, a group of investors might buy a large number of shares of a stock in order to drive up the price, and then sell the shares at a profit.
Securities fraud can have a devastating impact on investors. Victims of securities fraud may lose their entire investment, and they may also have difficulty recouping their losses.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the primary government agency responsible for enforcing securities laws. The SEC has a number of tools at its disposal to investigate and prosecute securities fraud, including:
Civil penalties: The SEC can impose civil penalties on individuals and companies that commit securities fraud. These penalties can be significant, and they can also include injunctions against future violations.
Criminal prosecution: The SEC can refer cases of securities fraud to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution. If convicted, individuals can face fines and imprisonment.
If you believe that you have been the victim of securities fraud, you should contact the SEC or the Department of Justice. You may also be able to file a civil lawsuit against the perpetrators of the fraud.
Here are some tips to help you avoid securities fraud:
Do your research: Before you invest in any security, you should do your research and understand the risks involved. You should also be wary of any investment that seems too good to be true.
Be skeptical of unsolicited offers: If you receive an unsolicited offer to invest in a security, be skeptical. These offers are often fraudulent.
Trust your gut: If something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. If you have any concerns about an investment, don't hesitate to ask questions." Google Bard
Outcome: Defendant elected to plead guilty.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
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