Courtlin L. Holt-Nguyen

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 24018 / December 20, 2017

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Matrix Capital Markets, LLC, Nicholas M. Mitsakos and Courtlin L. Holt-Nguyen, No. 16-cv-06395 (S.D.N.Y. filed Aug. 11, 2016)

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Investment Adviser, Its Principal and Associate Who Boasted Phony Assets and Track Record

The Securities and Exchange Commission obtained final judgements against Matrix Capital Markets, LLC, Nicholas M. Mitsakos, and Courtlin L. Holt-Nguyen, all charged by the SEC for pretending to manage millions of dollars in assets and fabricating a hypothetical portfolio of investments that purportedly earned returns of 20 to 66 percent. According to the SEC’s complaint, Mitsakos and Matrix then stole money from the first client who invested with them based on their misrepresentations.

On December 4, 2017, the Honorable Paul Oetken of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, entered final judgments permanently enjoining Matrix, Mitsakos and Holt-Nguyen from violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1), 206(2) and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and Rule 206(4)-8 thereunder. The court ordered Matrix and Mitsakos to pay disgorgement of $861,163.62, plus prejudgment interest thereon in the amount of $57,474.30, which is deemed satisfied by the $861,163.62 in restitution and $861,163.62 in forfeiture ordered against Mitsakos in a parallel criminal action. The court also imposed an officer and director bar against Mitsakos and ordered Holt-Nguyen to pay a $25,000 civil penalty. In separate administrative proceedings, instituted December 19, 2017, Mitsakos agreed to be barred from the securities industry and from participating in penny stock offerings, Matrix agreed to be censured. Holt-Nguyen agreed to an industry bar with the right to apply for reentry after three years, but which permits him to continue his current employment with an investment adviser, limiting him to providing only information technology and administrative functions.

In a parallel criminal action based on the same conduct, Mitsakos was sentenced to a prison term of 30 months and was ordered to pay $861,163.62 in restitution and $861,163.62 in forfeiture.

The SEC’s litigation was led by Alison R. Levine, Kevin P. McGrath, and Valerie A. Szczepanik and was supervised by Lara S. Mehraban.

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https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2017/lr24018.htm