Federal regulators have moved to freeze the assets of an Atlanta investment manager who allegedly misappropriated at least $600,000 in client funds.
The Securities and Exchange Commission accuses Benjamin Daniel DeHaan and Lighthouse Financial Partners LLC of one count of fraud by investment adviser, according to a civil complaint filed Saturday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.
DeHaan and Lighthouse consented to having their assets frozen, but neither admitted nor denied the accusations, according to court documents.
DeHaan, 37, who heads Lighthouse, declined to comment. A message left with DeHaan’s attorney was not immediately returned.
The civil complaint contends DeHaan provided at various times fictitious financial statements and false information to the SEC and Georgia securities examiners.
The investment manager allegedly moved $1.2 million in client funds into a “pass through account,” telling clients he did so in order to open new accounts at a major investment firm.
DeHaan and Lighthouse also put their own money into the account and transferred $1.7 million from the pass through account to personal or business accounts to pay for business expenses, the SEC said.
On YouTube, DeHaan touts his firm’s philosophy of "active" investing. He claims to be one of the creators of a mathematical stock trading platform designed to help clients ride an investment’s rise and sell under predefined circumstances to limit losses.
“Our core investment philosophy here at Lighthouse Financial Partners is to limit risk,” DeHaan said in one YouTube video.
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