Sudheesh Nambiar Charged in $44M Ponzi-Like Scheme

Sudheesh Nambiar

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 26529 / April 17, 2026

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Sudheesh Nambiari No. 26-cv-03203 (N.D. Cal. filed April 15, 2026)

SEC Charges San Francisco Bay Area Trader and Investment Adviser in Alleged Multimillion Dollar Ponzi-Like Scheme and Offering Fraud

On April 15, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Milpitas, California resident Sudheesh Nambiar, alleging that he defrauded hundreds of investors of approximately $44 million.

According to the SEC’s complaint, from at least November 2018 through May 2024, Nambiar orchestrated a Ponzi-like scheme that fraudulently raised approximately $43 million from over 400 investors throughout the United States. As alleged, Nambiar falsely told investors that he would pool together their funds and use the money to invest in securities, and that investors could expect high rates of return of around 20% to 40% annually. The SEC’s complaint alleges that Nambiar deceived investors and kept his fraudulent scheme going by providing investors with false documents, including account statements that appeared to show profitable trades and high returns on investment. As alleged, Nambiar was in reality a highly unsuccessful trader who suffered trading losses that totaled approximately $21 million over the course of his scheme, and he used new investor funds to make Ponzi-like payments to prior investors, pay off high-interest loans, and pay for personal expenses. In a separate but related scheme, Nambiar allegedly ran a private fund offering that fraudulently raised approximately $900,000 from nine investors.

The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, charges Nambiar with violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933; Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder; and Section 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-8 thereunder. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, including conduct-based injunctions, civil penalties, and disgorgement with prejudgment interest.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Yoona Kim, Hannah Cho, and Mitchell Davidson and was supervised by Rahul Kolhatkar, David Zhou, and Jason H. Lee of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Jason M. Bussey and Audrey Pak.

Resources

• SEC Complaint