SEC Alleges $16 Million Ponzi Scheme Targeted 200 Investors

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has accused New Jersey businessman Ernest Ossei Boateng and two companies he controlled of running an alleged $16 million Ponzi scheme that targeted more than 200 investors, including retirees, students, healthcare workers and religious organisations.

The regulator filed its complaint in federal court in New York, alleging that Boateng operated the scheme through Intercontinental Wealth Network LLC and I Wealth Network LP from at least January 2020 through March 2026. According to the SEC, the defendants attracted investors by presenting the investment opportunity as a relatively safe strategy capable of producing fixed and guaranteed returns.

The allegations become more serious when compared with what the SEC says actually happened to the money. Rather than being deployed according to the investment strategy described to clients, more than $5.8 million was allegedly diverted for Boateng's personal expenses, including spending connected to the purchase, renovation and furnishing of his home.

Another approximately $6.6 million was allegedly used to make payments to earlier investors, a pattern that regulators described as consistent with a Ponzi scheme. The SEC also alleges that whatever portion of investor funds was actually traded was not placed into the low risk investments promised to clients. Instead, Boateng allegedly engaged in speculative day trading that generated losses exceeding $750,000.

According to the regulator, the alleged victims included people with little or no previous investment experience, alongside retirees, taxi drivers, home healthcare providers, students and an ailing widow with young children. At least two churches and a prayer group were also allegedly among those who invested.

The SEC said the investment campaign particularly targeted Christians of Ghanaian heritage in New York and New Jersey, relying on a sales pitch that allegedly emphasised security rather than risk. Regulators said some investors were told their money was protected by what was described as financial or investment insurance, a claim the SEC characterised as a major warning sign.