Surage Kamal Roshan Perera, of Melville, New York, a stockbroker registered with Aegis Capital Corp. is the subject of an enforcement action initiated by the United States Securities & Exchange Commission in which the regulator is seeking sanctions against Perera based upon allegations that Perera committed fraud and misappropriated funds. SEC v. Surage Kamal Roshan Perera et al., Complaint No. 2:23-cv-02316 (March 27, 2023).
SEC, in its Complaint against Perera, Janues Capital Incorporated, and Nishani Alahakoon, claimed that Perera used his company Janues to swindle an investor of millions. He allegedly did this by telling lies about investment strategies and opportunities; misusing the investor’s money by not buying the stocks she opted for via Janues and by using a significant part of her cash to carry out high volume, highly leveraged trades in other stocks; telling lies about investment profits; and concealing trading losses.
According to the Complaint, Perera dishonestly told the investor that Janues could get particular limited stocks at reduced prices by way of his ties with big organizations. He also purportedly professed to employ a trading strategy, which he called options straddles, that would not just prevent trading losses but would also assure returns of 9-50 percent on some investments. Allegedly, Perera’s false assurances persuaded the investor to hand him an estimated $4,300,000.00.
SEC claimed that Perera failed to use the investor’s money to buy the stocks she had opted for and did not apply the options straddles in the way he described. Rather, he allegedly shifted at least $3,500,000.00 of the investor’s money to a trading account in his spouse, Alahakoon’s name, and utilized funds to carry out risky, leveraged trading.
The Complaint alleged that Perera’s trades generated $3,000,000.00 in losses. Perera supposedly hid his misuse of funds and trading losses by distributing fake account reports and trade confirmations to the investor. He allegedly utilized money from other places to partially pay back the defrauded investor.
SEC claimed Perera and Janues violated Securities Act of 1933 Section 17(a), Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Section 10(b), Rule 10b-5, and Investment Advisers Act of 1940 Section 206.
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Public Disclosure shows that Perera was referenced in three customer initiated investment related disputes concerning Perera’s conduct while associated with securities broker dealers, including Aegis Capital Corp. On May 9, 2023, a customer filed an investment related FINRA securities arbitration claim involving Perera’s conduct in which the customer requested $854,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Perera made unsuitable recommendations, made misrepresentations of material fact, committed fraud, and breached a contract in connection with the sale of private placements, options, and equities when Perera was associated with Aegis Capital Corp. FINRA Arbitration No. 23-01265.
On October 23, 2009, a customer initiated investment related FINRA securities arbitration claim involving Perera’s conduct was settled for $12,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Perera engaged in unauthorized trading in stocks during the time that Perera was associated with Prestige Financial Center Inc. FINRA Arbitration No. 08-0496.
Perera was also referenced in a customer initiated investment related FINRA securities arbitration claim in which the customer requested $3,300,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Perera was negligent, committed fraud, and made misrepresentations and omissions of material fact in connection with the recommendation and sale of private placements when Perera was associated with Aegis Capital Corp. FINRA Arbitration No. 23-01192 (May 2, 2023).
Perera has been associated with Aegis Capital Corp. as a stockbroker from April 18, 2018, to September 12, 2022.
