SEC Says Recidivist|Just Won’t Quit

SHERMAN, Texas (CN) - Being barred for securities fraud in Colorado didn't stop the boss of Sethi Petroleum from defrauding people of $4 million from Texas, the SEC claims in court.

The SEC sued Sethi Petroleum and Sameer P. Sethi, of Murphy, Texas on May 14 in Federal Court.

It claims he defrauded 90 investors in 28 states of $4 million by selling them securities in his so-called Sethi-North Dakota Drilling Fund LVIII Joint Venture. And he's still doing it, the SEC claims.

Sethi, 33, has a checkered history, according to the SEC lawsuit. He was convicted of aggravated assault in Texas and served 2½ years in prison for it, from June 2006 through January 2009.

Free again, in 2010, he and Sethi Petroleum were "permanently enjoined from engaging in unregistered and fraudulent offerings in the State of Colorado in a civil action brought by the Colorado Securities Commissioner."

Also, his company Sethi Oil & Gas was ordered to cease and desist selling unregistered securities in Pennsylvania, in 2006.

But that didn't stop him from doing it again, through his Texas company, Sethi Financial Group, which owns 100 percent of Sethi Petroleum, the SEC says.

It asks the court to bar him again, and fine him.

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