A citizen from Haiti living in South Florida has been accused of running a Ponzi scheme that raised about $1.8 million but failed to repay investors from the region’s Haitian-American community.
According to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in U.S. District Court in Miami, Monise François Bien Aimé of Pembroke Pines and her company MFB 111 Investment LLC used Facebook videos and word of mouth to promote the “scheme.”
“François also presented herself as a God-fearing Christian in interactions with investors. Many investors were persuaded to invest in MFB due to François’s faith and assurances about the investment opportunity,” the suit states.
From at least March 2021 to December 2022, François offered investment contracts promising returns of 5% to 10% weekly and return of their full principal within 90 days, the lawsuit states.
In May 2022, they changed the interest repayment terms from weekly to monthly, the SEC said. Initially, investors were required to make minimum deposits ranging from $500 to $1,000, but later the defendants “accepted any amount,” the complaint states.
François claimed the investment was safe and that funds would be used to purchase real estate for short-term Airbnb rentals, invest in mutual funds, a restaurant, a gas station, and to buy merchandise for her North Miami-based clothing store, Monise Boutique LLC, the lawsuit says.
MFB 111 raised money from at least 170 investors, mostly Haitians and Haitian Americans from South Florida and elsewhere, the SEC said.
François and the company “grossly misrepresented” how their funds would be used and made “material misrepresentations” about the profitability and safety of their investments, the suit states.
“Defendants boasted to prospective investors that earlier investors were so successful as a result of investing in MFB that they were able to purchase homes with the investment returns,” the suit says.
The defendants commingled funds without regard to which enterprise they told investors their money would be used for and misappropriated at least $186,016 for unrelated expenses such as apparel and household goods, church contributions, automobile expenses, and groceries and dining, according to the SEC complaint.
Some investor funds were used to make Ponzi-like distributions to other investors, and contrary to their pitches, neither the short-term rental real estate venture nor Monise Boutique generated enough money to pay investor returns, the lawsuit says.
François eventually lost Monise Boutique because she was unable to pay the rent, the SEC said.
The “investment scheme” began to unravel during the summer of 2022, when the defendants failed to make principal and interest payments to investors and mailed investors checks drawn on accounts with insufficient funds, the lawsuit states. Most investors have been unable to contact the defendants since September 2022, it says.
MFB III and François were charged with seven counts of violating anti-fraud provisions of federal securities laws.
The lawsuit states that no registration statement was ever filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission with respect to the investments the defendants offered and sold, and no exemption from registration existed with respect to the investments.
The suit seeks a permanent injunction prohibiting François and MFB III from engaging in securities transactions, disgorgement of “ill-gotten gains,” and civil penalties.
François, 43, a Haitian citizen, formed MFB in January 2020 and was its manager, president and chief operating officer, the suit states, adding she was also manager of Monise Boutique, which sold clothing and beauty products.
The SEC also charged Julien Janvier, 62, of Miramar, as a relief defendant. Janvier, who assisted François with MFB, received proceeds of the scheme without legitimate entitlement, the SEC said.
Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071, on Twitter @ronhurtibise or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.