SEC Ends $58 Million Microcap Boiler Room Case With Five Final Judgments
SEC final judgments conclude an alleged boiler room case involving 18 microcap issuers, over $58 million in proceeds and five permanent penny stock bars.
Summary
On October 8, 2026, the SEC said its litigation was concluded after securing final judgments against Francis Biller, Chester Alvarez, Troy Gran-Brooks, Justin Plaizier, and Raymond Dove over an alleged microcap boiler room. The March 14, 2022 complaint alleged that, from at least January 2016 through at least July 2018, they used high pressure calls and false or misleading claims about their promotional roles and touted companies to sell shares of small U.S. public companies to U.S. investors. The SEC alleged promotions for at least 18 issuers generated more than $58 million in trading proceeds and millions in payments to defendants and relief defendants, including Dove controlled Shredderz International Corp. The release cites case No. 22-civ-01406 and identifies the filing court as the Eastern District of New York, although its caption lists D. Mass.
Final consent judgments entered January 24, 2025 against Alvarez, Gran-Brooks, and Plaizier and February 21, 2025 against Biller enjoined all four under Securities Act Section 17(a), Exchange Act Section 10(b), and Rule 10b-5; Alvarez was additionally enjoined under Exchange Act Section 9(a)(2). All received permanent penny stock bars and were ordered to pay disgorgement plus prejudgment interest of $131,347, $838,101, $134,652, and $8,392,982, respectively. In the parallel Eastern District of New York criminal case, Alvarez, Gran-Brooks, and Plaizier pleaded guilty and were sentenced; Biller pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.
On September 30, 2026, the court entered default judgment against Dove, permanently enjoining the same Section 17(a), Section 10(b), and Rule 10b-5 violations, imposing a penny stock offering bar, and ordering $2,923,446 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest plus a $1,655,157 civil penalty. It denied default against Shredderz for lack of personal jurisdiction; the SEC had dismissed relief defendants Edward Clarke, Lia Patricia Sepulveda Salazar, and Edward Lopez Giraldo. Kathleen Shields, Alexandra Lavin, and David London of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office handled the concluded litigation.
Positives
- Five final judgments imposed permanent penny stock bars on Biller, Alvarez, Gran-Brooks, Plaizier, and Dove.
- Biller, Alvarez, Gran-Brooks, and Plaizier were ordered to pay combined disgorgement and prejudgment interest exceeding $9.49 million.
- Dove was ordered to pay $2,923,446 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest plus a $1,655,157 civil penalty.
- Alvarez, Gran-Brooks, and Plaizier were sentenced after guilty pleas, while Biller pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.
Risks & concerns
- The alleged scheme promoted at least 18 issuers and generated more than $58 million in trading proceeds from January 2016 through July 2018.
- False or misleading claims allegedly concerned both the defendants’ promotional roles and the public companies whose shares they touted.
- The court denied the SEC’s default motion against Shredderz International Corp. because it lacked personal jurisdiction.
- The SEC previously dismissed claims against relief defendants Edward Clarke, Lia Patricia Sepulveda Salazar, and Edward Lopez Giraldo.
- The release does not identify the 18 or more microcap issuers whose shares were promoted.