Former Investment Advisor barred from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer.

HedgeCo.Net) The Honorable Robert Gettleman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has entered a final judgment, by consent, against Kerry L. Hoffman, whom the Securities and Exchange Commission had charged with fraudulently selling securities to investment advisory clients and with acting as an unregistered broker.

According to the SEC’s complaint, filed on July 1, 2019, Hoffman and another individual raised over $3.3 million through the sale of GT Media, Inc. securities to approximately 46 investors. According to the complaint, Hoffman, formerly a registered representative and investment advisory representative at a large nationwide financial firm, solicited certain of his investment advisory clients to invest in the securities, but did not disclose certain financial conflicts of interest, including that he received compensation from GT Media and made short-term loans to the company that were repaid using investor funds.

The final judgment permanently enjoins Hoffman from violations of the antifraud provisions of Sections 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and the broker-dealer registration provisions of Section 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and orders him to pay $60,000 in disgorgement, $10,788 in prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty of $93,000. The SEC’s litigation against Conwell continues.

Separately, in an order issued on January 11, 2021, the Commission barred Hoffman from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization and from participating in any offering of penny stock, with the right to apply for reentry after five years.

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