The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a man and the two New Jersey-based companies he controls of operating a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme.
The SEC announced the charges against Ernest Ossei Boateng, along with Intercontinental Wealth Network LLC and I Wealth Network LP. They are accused of raising approximately $16 million from over 200 inexperienced investors through a scheme he operated from at least January 2020 until at least March 2026.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, states that Boateng, acting through his two companies, solicited, recommended, and sold interests in an alleged investment fund, primarily targeting Christians of Ghanaian heritage in New York and New Jersey. Many of them had no prior investing experience.
The complaint alleges that Boateng told investors that their investments would generate guaranteed fixed returns and that the investment fund would pursue a low-risk investment strategy.
But instead of investing the money as he promised, Boateng allegedly misappropriated more than $5.8 million for his personal expenses, including the purchase, renovation, and furnishing of his home. It is also alleged that he used about $6.6 million to make Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors.
The SEC added that to the limited extent Boateng did invest the money, he failed to do so in low-risk investments with fixed returns as he had told the investors. Instead, according to the complaint, Boateng used investor money to engage in high-risk, speculative day trading, leading to more than $750,000 in trading losses.
When some investors didn’t have the money to invest, Boateng would encourage them to take out bank loans, take credit card advances or make early withdrawals from retirement accounts (often incurring steep penalties), according to the complaint.
To cover up the scheme, Boateng allegedly created fake account statements and documents
“We allege that the defendants’ investors included retirees, taxi drivers, home health care providers, students, an ailing widow with young children, and at least two churches and one prayer group,” said Thomas P. Smith, Jr., Associate Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “The defendants’ sales pitch to victims included assuring them that their investments were safe and without risk—telling many their money was protected by so-called ‘financial, investment insurance.’ That’s as big of a red flag as we see in these types of scams.”
Boateng, Intercontinental, and I Wealth were charged with violating the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Boateng and Intercontinental were charged with violating the antifraud provisions of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The complaint seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with pre-judgment interest, and civil penalties against all of the defendants, as well as conduct-based injunctions against Boateng and Intercontinental.
The attorneys at Hyman Cotter have decades of experience dealing with securities fraud cases and have a deep understanding of how capital markets and financial service firms are intended to work to protect investors. If you think your financial professional or firm engaged in misconduct that caused you investment losses, contact Hyman Cotter at (833) 665-0784 or through our online contact form for a no-cost evaluation of your matter.
