The Jig Is Up in Miami, SEC Says

MIAMI (CN) - Two Miami-area men defrauded investors of $5.7 million in a bogus startup TV network they called Vision Broadcast Network, the SEC claims in court.

Vision Broadcast is defunct. The SEC claims Vision's so-called CEO Erick Laszlo Mathe, 42, and his "consultant" Ashif Jiwa, 55, lied repeatedly to scam more than 100 investors for $5.7 million. They claimed, for example, that Michael Jordan was investing in Vision, and that its TV stations would be worth $400 million, the SEC said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Mathe and Jiwa skimmed more than $1.7 million from their suckers, doled out another $509,000 to one of Jiwa's "close relatives," and the men spent more than $52,000 of company money on themselves, including $47,500 for "luxury cars," according to the SEC.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia has filed parallel criminal charges against the two men, the SEC said.

Also sued in the SEC complaint is Bluemark Asset Management, which Vision paid for professional services it never rendered, according to the SEC.

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