The US District Court in the Central District of California granted the SEC’s restraining order on September 30, 2021, freezing assets and requiring a full accounting of all funds. The court also set another hearing on October 14th to extend the emergency relief with a preliminary injunction.
The complaint states that Harrison and Parfyonova live in Ladera Ranch, CA. Harrison was unregistered, and ran his company, Global Trading Institute (GTI) since 2016 and the now-defunct Trading Advisement Program, LLC (TAP.) Neither were ever registered with the SEC. Harrison charged 22 clients $900,000 based on alleged gains he’d made trading options in the client’s accounts.
Harrison regularly sent out invoices to these clients detailing their activity and billing them for monthly service fees. However, these clients also suffered substantial losses as a result of his trading practices. The clients were unaware of these losses, since the falsified account statements were created to hide the actual activity and resulting loss.
In addition to trading on behalf of customers, the GTI website offered webinars to potential investors and traders that alleged to teach others how to trade options using a “systematic strategy” to reduce risk and increase profits.
These webinars had suggestive titles, such as:
- Optioneering For Income Live Courses (held online for three days in October through December 2015)
- The Other Side Of Wall Street
The website also hosted videos made by Harrison touting financial information. Additionally, Harrison also had a Facebook group that offered “real time information and tips” on his trading programs. A total of 22 people agreed to allow Harrison to trade in their accounts without any written agreements. Many of these were senior citizens inexperienced with trading.
Once a person gave their email address to GTI, they would begin receiving emails from Harrison, calling himself the CEO. This email campaign told prospects that he had taught hundreds of students the same methods and were now making millions. In his marketing, Harrison promulgated his experience as a “Wall Street Trader.” Harrison only worked as a trader for two years. He failed to disclose that he was, in fact, prohibited from affiliation with any FINRA member.
FINRA banned Ron Harrison after a 1992 investigation found that he engaged in unauthorized trading in customer accounts, solicited more than $75,000 from customers and misappropriated more than $$62,500 of customer funds. After refusing to provide information and documentation and cooperate with authorities, he was permanently banned, fined $75,000 and ordered to repay $57,000 in customer funds. Harrison is permanently banned from association with any FINRA broker firm, and has never registered with the SEC.
Did You Invest With Ron Harrison And His Global Trading Institute?
Silver Law Group has filed multiple federal court cases against investment fraud schemes around the country relating to fraudulent trading schemes relating to securities, commodities, crypto currencies and precious metal frauds. Investors who are solicited at conferences, trade shows, webinars or other sales presentations may have a claim against the promoters for the sale of unregistered securities, breach of fiduciary duty and other claims.
Silver Law Group represents investors in securities and investment fraud cases. Our lawyers are admitted to practice in New York and Florida and represent investors nationwide to help recover investment losses due to stockbroker misconduct. If you have any questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney. Most cases are handled on a contingent fee basis, meaning that you won’t owe us until we recover your money for you. Contact us today at (800) 975-4345 and let us know how we can help.