The SEC’s civil case against USFIA has finally been unsealed, with a declaration filed by SEC attorney spilling details on the investigation.

As per a declaration by Peter Greco, filed on September 28th;

In November 2014 the SEC began to receive information from individuals claiming to have invested in, and been defrauded by USFIA.

The matter was assigned to me for investigation.

It was in these initial stages of the investigation that the SEC became aware of a concurrent FBI criminal investigation.

At about the same time, I was informed that the FBI was conducting its own undercover investigation into USFIA.

I had several conversations and meetings with representatives of the FBI to discuss coordination of our respective investigations.

At the forefront of these discussions was concerns from the FBI that an overt SEC investigation might compromise criminal proceedings.

The criminal authorities were concerned that overt investigatory efforts by the SEC might compromise their undercover investigation and alarm one of the subjects of that investigation, whom they believed to pose a flight risk.

The individual referenced above is almost guaranteed to have been Steve Chen, owner of USFIA (right).

Taking the FBI’s concerns under advisement, the SEC struck a deal with the agency that would see them take a back seat.

Accordingly, an agreement was reached that the SEC would, at least temporarily, refrain from issuing subpoenas or taking other overt investigative action, and the criminal authorities would share bank records and other documents and information it obtained in the course of its investigation.

Had the FBI of not been investigating, we might have seen regulatory action taken against USFIA much sooner. On the flip side though, the FBI were given additional time to put together a concrete criminal case against Chen.

Greco’s declaration goes on to identify several top promoters of GemCoin, based out the various countries it solicited investment in:

Wendy Liu (USA) – owner of alliancefinancialgroupusa.com and ahomeusa.com (used by Steve Chen to offer EB-5 visas to USFIA investors)

Richard Mertz & Numora International Inc. (USA) – owner of gemcoin-usfia.com

Phillippe Dupuis (France) – owner of gemcoin-investment.com

Tze Hong Sim (Singapore) – owner of investgemcoin.com

Ethan Zhang (Canada) – owner of 1gemcoin.com, identifies Yan Chen (Steve Chen’s brother) as the purported owner of an amber mine in the Dominican Republic

Sebastian Catusse (Switzerland) – owner of gemcoin.ch and usfia.ch

Also detailed specific experiences by USFIA investors, detailing the spectacular claims used to market USFIA and the ultimate collapse of the scheme.

Between August and September 2015, five USFIA investors were interviewed by FBI, SEC and IRS investigators.

Their experiences, as recounted to US regulators, provide a fascinating first-hand account of what it was to be a USFIA GemCoin investor.

Investor A first learned of USFIA from his friend,

🤖 Quick Answer

What was the SEC's initial discovery regarding USFIA?
In November 2014, the SEC began receiving reports from individuals claiming to have invested in USFIA and suffered fraud. SEC attorney Peter Greco was assigned to investigate these allegations, which marked the beginning of the agency's formal inquiry into the company's operations and potential securities violations.

How did the SEC coordinate with federal authorities?
During the investigation's early stages, the SEC discovered that the FBI was conducting a concurrent criminal investigation into USFIA. SEC officials held multiple meetings with FBI representatives to discuss coordination between the two agencies' respective investigations into the company.

What triggered the unsealing of the SEC case?
The SEC's civil case against USFIA was unsealed following a declaration filed by SEC attorney Peter Greco on September 28th, which detailed findings from the investigation and revealed previously confidential information about the fraud allegations and regulatory proceedings against the firm.

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