Securities Regulation Daily Wrap Up, FRAUD AND MANIPULATION—C.D. Cal.: SEC charges couple in multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, (Nov 20, 2025)

By Suzanne Cosgrove

Investors were promised returns of 15 percent per month, or at least 360 percent per year, together with a return of principal, if they invested a minimum of $5,000.

The SEC said it filed a civil action against Linh Thuy Le and Trong Hoang Luu for allegedly conducting an unregistered offering and making Ponzi-like payments through their company, Inventis Ventures, LLC. According to the complaint, between March 2022 and November 2023, Le and Luu raised at least $26.6 million from at least 1,400 people in multiple states, but primarily in California and Illinois (SEC v. Linh Thuy Le and Trong Hoang Luu, No. 8:25-cv-02324 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 15, 2025)).

According to the complaint, Le told investors, who were principally members of Vietnamese and Latino communities, that Inventis would use their funds to invest in different “emerging projects” in its investment portfolio. She gave investors inconsistent descriptions of the use of funds and source of returns, varying from “real estate” and “health insurance investments” to claims that she had access to an unnamed bank that provided 40 percent returns. She falsely claimed that the investments were “guaranteed,” “safe,” or “insured.”

Misappropriated funds. The complaint further alleges that Le and Luu misappropriated the funds, spending investor funds for their personal benefit, paying referral fees, and making Ponzi-like distribution payments to earlier investors.

Luu, who knew Le was making these false statements to investors, facilitated and advanced the scheme by, among other things, signing more than 95 percent of the checks issued by Inventis, including checks used to make approximately $16.5 million in Ponzi-like distribution payments to investors and to make approximately $1.5 million in referral fee payments to individuals who found new investors.

Inventis eventually collapsed and many of the investors abruptly stopped receiving the interest payments they had been promised and were never repaid their principal investment. Even then, Le continued to make false and misleading statements to investors, claiming that Inventis stopped making payments only because of “bank audits” and “banking compliance issues.”

Parallel charges filed. The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal district court in the Central District of California, charges Le with violating the registration and anti-fraud provisions of Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. It charges Luu with violating Sections 17(a)(1) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rules 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder.

The SEC seeks permanent injunctions against future violations of the securities laws against Le and Luu, conduct-based injunctions against Le, disgorgement with prejudgment interest and civil penalties against Le and Luu.

The U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California filed criminal charges against Le and Luu in a parallel action.

The case is No. 8:25-cv-02324.

SEC litigation release No. 26421.

Attorneys: Daniel Oren Blau for the SEC.

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