Investview CEO Joseph Cammarata has been arrested on recovery scam fraud charges.
The SEC has also filed parallel civil proceedings against Cammarata and two co-conspirators.
Joseph Cammarata (right) was appointed CEO of Investview in 2019. He was arrested in Florida on November 4th.
In early November, the DOJ revealed Cammarata, Erik Cohen and David Punturieri, had been indicted
‘on charges of conspiracy to commit multiple counts of fraud in connection with a securities fraud claims scheme.’
The “securities fraud claims scheme”, aka a recovery scam, was perpetrated through Alpha Plus Recovery.
Alpha Plus Recovery ran from 2014 to January 2021.
Whereas in the MLM space we typically see recovery scams directly target victims (promises of refunds after a fee is paid), Alpha Plus Recovery targeted civil lawsuits filed against companies found to violated securities law.
Upon reaching a settlement with the offending company;
As a practical matter, because such settlements often involve very large numbers of injured investors, they frequently involve very large amounts of money.
Even after the payment of attorney’s’ fees and expenses, such settlements result in substantial pools of funds that have to be equitably divided among large numbers of investors.
Who gets what is the result of formulas set out in settlement agreements. This process, which includes validating claims filed by victims, is carried out by a court-approved third-party claims administrator.
From Cammarata’s previously sealed indictment;
Alpha Plus was a claims aggregator purporting to act on behalf of clients who claimed entitlement to settlements from securities class action and SEC enforcement action settlements.
All claimants to such settlements, including those represented by claims aggregators such as Alpha Plus, were required to show two essential facts in order to qualify for an award of funds.
First, claimants needed to demonstrate that they had bought shares ofthe subject security during the time period set forth in the court-approved settlement agreement that resolved the securities class action lawsuit.
Second, claimants also needed to show they had suffered damages as a result of their purchase of securities.
Alpha Plus’ recovery scam saw the firm submit bogus victim claim details to multiple claims administrators.
Joseph Cammarata, Erik Cohen and David Punturieri and others … created what purported to be independent entities, but which were in fact owned or controlled by the defendants, and used those entities to make false claims in securities class action and SEC enforcement action settlements.
These entities were represented to be Alpha Plus clients, who then, on behalf of the created entities, submitted false claims.
The indictment alleges Cammarata, Cohen, and Punturieri (quoted verbatim)
made material misrepresentations to claims administrators about securities trading that had purportedly been done by supposed Alpha Plus clients;
created false
🤖 Quick Answer
What were the charges against Investview CEO Joseph Cammarata?Joseph Cammarata was arrested on recovery scam fraud charges and indicted for conspiracy to commit multiple counts of fraud related to a securities fraud claims scheme. The SEC filed parallel civil proceedings against Cammarata and two co-conspirators, Erik Cohen and David Punturieri.
What was Alpha Plus Recovery?
Alpha Plus Recovery was a fraudulent operation running from 2014 to January 2021 that perpetrated a securities fraud claims scheme, commonly known as a recovery scam. It targeted victims by promising refunds after they paid fees.
When and where was Cammarata arrested?
Joseph Cammarata was arrested in Florida on November 4th. He had been appointed CEO of Investview in 2019 before his arrest was made public in early November.
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