On 23 December 2024, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) secured a final judgment against Steven J. Susoeff and his investment advisory firm, Steve Susoeff, LLC, doing business as Meritage Financial Group. The judgment was issued by the United States District Court for the District of Nevada in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Steven J. Susoeff and Steve Susoeff, LLC (dba Meritage Financial Group), Civil Action No. 2:23-cv-00173. The case arose from allegations that Susoeff engaged in a fraudulent “cherry-picking” scheme, improperly allocating investment profits in violation of United States federal securities laws.
According to the complaint, filed on 1 February 2023, the US SEC alleged that Susoeff, as the sole owner and principal of Meritage Financial Group, engaged in a scheme where he systematically directed profitable trades to favoured accounts, including those of his girlfriend and business associate, while consistently assigning unprofitable trades to disfavoured clients’ accounts. The US SEC claimed that this fraudulent practice occurred between January and July 2021, during which time Meritage Financial Group managed approximately $8 million in assets for 59 clients.
The case against Susoeff and Meritage Financial Group was based on violations of several provisions of United States federal securities laws. The US SEC accused them of breaching the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and US SEC Rules 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder, Sections 17(a)(1) and (3) of the United States Securities Act of 1933, and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the United States Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The scheme, which involved executing trades through a block trading account, enabled Susoeff to delay trade allocations until he could determine their profitability, directing gains to preferred accounts while assigning losses to unsuspecting clients.
Despite multiple warnings from the brokerage firm that held his clients’ accounts, Susoeff allegedly continued the practice until the firm ultimately removed him from its trading platform.
The United States District Court’s final judgment permanently enjoined Susoeff from committing future violations of the relevant United States securities laws. He was ordered to pay $54,232 in disgorgement, representing the net profits obtained from the fraudulent scheme, along with prejudgment interest of $11,695. Additionally, the court imposed a civil penalty of $144,566.
The US SEC’s litigation and investigation were conducted by teams from its Los Angeles Regional Office, including attorneys Charles Canter and Douglas M. Miller, with investigative efforts led by Kelly C. Bowers and Robert H. Conrrad, and supported by the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis.
(Source: https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26239, https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/complaints/2025/comp26239.pdf, https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/litreleases/2025/judg26239.pdf)
