SAN DIEGO ­– David John Nava of La Jolla was sentenced in federal court today to 12 months for his role in multiple felonies related to the operation of his financial firm, Surf Financial Group, LLC, including conspiring to defraud shareholders of publicly traded companies, transmitting millions of dollars through an unlicensed money transmitting business, and falsifying multiple years of federal tax returns. He was also ordered to pay $3,716,888.27 in restitution.

Nava pleaded guilty on October 7, 2020, to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and one count of tax fraud.  Pursuant to his plea agreement, Nava agreed to forfeit more than $3.1 million for his crimes.

According to the plea agreement and sentencing papers, Nava managed Surf Financial Group, LLC despite federal securities regulators permanently banning and censuring him in 1994 from participating in the industry. Nava admitted that he and other co-conspirators, including a licensed attorney, converted the debt of various publicly traded companies under materially false and fraudulent pretenses into unrestricted stock and then sold the stock for profit. Nava further admitted that he and his co-conspirators carried out their fraudulent scheme by entering into agreements where Nava sold shares of various entities’ stock on public exchanges after fraudulently claiming an exemption from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) registration requirements for selling securities in the public marketplace.

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