Never Alone, Never Legit? SEC Charges Fraudster in $4M Investment Scheme

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges against Alan Burak, founder of Never Alone Capital LLC, an alleged investment fund that targeted Latino investors. The SEC has alleged that Burak raised approximately $4 million, most of which he misappropriated for personal expenses.

According to the SEC complaint, between 2018 and 2023, Burak presented himself as a wealthy hedge fund owner and claimed that Never Alone was an investment fund that would invest in “Wall Street” using a complex investment strategy, in some cases with a guaranteed return. Burak allegedly raised approximately $4 million from at least 17 investors, several of whom he met through a company that provides financial education programs in Spanish to the Latino community. After investors wired funds to Never Alone’s bank account, the SEC charges that Burak generally sent them fabricated monthly “Account and Activity Statements” purporting to show consistently positive returns from investments in “stocks” and “other.”

The SEC investigation, however, revealed that, to the extent that Burak actually invested any of the investor money, his trading yielded losses. In fact, the SEC stated Burak did not invest most of the money as he claimed. Instead, the SEC says he used it for personal expenses such as luxury skincare, an adult-only subscription service, and other credit card charges. Burak eventually stopped responding to investors, and in an audio recording from July 2022, he stated, among other things, that he was fake, he did not have a real business and he was stealing money from people.

Even after this recording, however, Burak’s scheme to deceive investors and prospective investors continued unabated through spring 2023. At that time, several investors whose false account statements indicated that their accounts had funds available to withdraw tried to cash out, but Burak manufactured additional lies and excuses to stave off repayments for several months and eventually stopped responding to investors altogether. The SEC said that, to date, most of the investors in Never Alone have not recouped even their initial investment, much less any of the returns Burak promised.

“As our complaint alleges, Burak convinced investors to trust him by lying about his investment expertise and strategies and then stole their money,” said Samuel Waldon, acting director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “We remain committed to identifying and holding accountable those who prey on innocent investors and encourage those who suspect they are victims of fraud to report it to the SEC.”

The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges Burak with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains together with prejudgment interest and civil penalties, as well as conduct-based injunctions.

In a parallel action, the New York County District Attorney’s Office also filed criminal charges against Burak.

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