Arizona securities regulators have charged a former financial advisor with promoting fraudulent investment schemes that bilked clients, according to Financial Advisor.
The Securities Division of the Arizona Corporation Commission took the action against 54-year-old Lisa Anne Boisselle and her firm, LABI Investments d/b/a Wealthwise, The defendants were charged with the offer and sale of unregistered securities, transactions by unregistered dealers or salesmen, and fraud in connection with the offer or sale of securities.
The Division issued a cease and desist order after accusing Boiselle and her firm of violating state securities laws by promoting two international Ponzi-like investment schemes involving cryptocurrency funds that allegedly defrauded clients out of nearly $1.4 million.
Authorities determined that beginning in 2021, Boisselle and Wealthwise solicited clients to invest in the two cryptocurrency asset-related programs, NovaTech and HyperFund, also known as HyperVerse. The Securities and Exchange Commission later alleged that both NovaTech and HyperFund were operated as fraudulent investment schemes
According to the order, Boisselle solicited almost $1.4 million from at least 16 clients for investments in NovaTech and HyperFund for which she received commissions. Though she was not licensed or registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission, she allegedly continued to solicit investors to invest in new opportunities.
Boisselle allegedly told clients that NovaTech and HyperFund were foreign exchange and cryptocurrency investment platforms where investors could earn profits simply by funding their NovaTech and HyperFund accounts on their respective websites.
“Boisselle represented to investors that their investments would make substantial profits in a short amount of time and the more other individuals invested the more money existing investors would make,” the order stated. “Boisselle represented to at least some investors that their money was ‘safe, secure, and accessible’ to withdraw at any time and the principal investment amount would grow in their accounts over time.”
Regulators determined that neither Boisselle nor Wealthwise disclosed to investors that the programs had already been identified as being fraudulent schemes.
In 2024, the SEC announced charges against Nova Tech and its leaders, Cynthia and Eddy Petion, for operating a fraudulent scheme that raised more than $650 million in crypto assets from more than 200,000 investors worldwide, including many in the Haitian-American community. The commission also charged Xue Lee (aka Sam Lee) and Brenda Chunga (aka Bitcoin Beautee) for their involvement in HyperFund, which the SEC alleged was a fraudulent crypto asset pyramid scheme that raised more than $1.7 billion from investors worldwide.
As part of its cease-and-desist order, the state of Arizona asked for the denial, revocation or suspension of Boisselle’s and Wealthwise’s licenses, the order said. In addition, the order asked that Boisselle and Wealthwise permanently cease and desist from violating state securities laws, that they take action to correct the conditions they created, including restitution to their clients, and that they pay $5,000 for each violation of the state securities act and $1,000 for each violation of the investment management act.
Boisselle could not be reached for comment by Financial Advisor prior to publication of their report, and the phone number for Wealthwise no longer connects to the firm.
Hyman Cotter PC routinely represents investors harmed when financial professionals and their firms engaged in misconduct that caused their clients investment losses. If you think your financial professional or firm engaged in misconduct that caused investment losses, contact the Chicago investor fraud attorneys of Hyman Cotter PC to schedule a free consultation by calling 312-291-4600 or through our online contact form.
