SEC wins final judgments against five in alleged microcap boiler-room scheme
The SEC has obtained final judgments and penny stock bars against five defendants it says ran a high-pressure call centre that generated more than $58 million in trading proceeds.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced on 8 October 2026 that it has obtained final judgments against five defendants in an alleged microcap fraud run through a boiler room, a call centre that used high-pressure sales tactics to sell small-company stocks to US investors.
What the SEC alleged
According to the complaint, filed on 14 March 2022, Francis Biller, Chester Alvarez, Troy Gran-Brooks, Justin Plaizier and Raymond Dove operated the call centre from at least January 2016 to at least July 2018. The SEC alleged that they made false or misleading statements both about their own roles in promoting the stocks and about the companies they were touting. The complaint says they promoted the stock of at least 18 issuers and generated more than $58 million in trading proceeds.
The judgments
Biller, Alvarez, Gran-Brooks and Plaizier consented to final judgments entered in January and February 2025. Each was barred permanently from penny stock offerings and ordered to pay disgorgement plus prejudgment interest: $8,392,982 for Biller, $131,347 for Alvarez, $838,101 for Gran-Brooks and $134,652 for Plaizier.
On 30 September 2026 the court entered a final judgment by default against Dove. It barred him from any penny stock offering and ordered him to pay $2,923,446 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and a civil penalty of $1,655,157.
In a parallel criminal case brought by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, Alvarez, Gran-Brooks and Plaizier have pleaded guilty and been sentenced, according to the SEC. Biller has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
What it means for traders
Boiler rooms rely on unsolicited calls and pressure to buy thinly traded stocks quickly. A caller who pushes a small company’s shares, plays down their own role in promoting it, or insists on a decision during the call shows the pattern the SEC described in this case. Our guide on choosing a trading educator covers similar warning signs.
What happens next
The SEC says the litigation is now concluded. Biller’s sentencing in the criminal case is still pending.
Markets: Stocks
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