Investment Firm Scheme Faked Ties to Qatari Sheikh, SEC Says

Gauntlet Holdings LLC, its manager, and a businessman tricked an unnamed company into transferring $1 million to the investment firm by falsely touting connections to the Qatari royal family, the SEC alleges.

Gauntlet also offered an individual investor a 50% return in 10 business days, defrauding that person of $1 million, the Securities and Exchange Commission says. The commission filed its complaint Thursday in the US District Court for the Central District of California.

Brea, Calif.-based Gauntlet’s managing member, Darrell Rideaux, worked with insurance salesman Ali Derakhshanfar in the scheme against the privately held company, the SEC says. Rideaux told ...