The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has banned a Pelham accountant from practicing before the regulatory agency because of his role in a Florida fraud.
Damien Alfalla, 49, consented to the sanctions, according to a SEC order issued on Feb. 23.
“Alfalla misrepresented to investors,” the order states, that their investments “had sufficient income to pay a promised dividend.”
The administrative proceeding was based on criminal charges and on a civil lawsuit.
Alfalla was arrested on Oct. 14, 2025 on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, and wire fraud. Two days later, the SEC accused him and two cohorts of securities fraud, in a civil lawsuit.
Alfalla was the chief financial officer of 600 Partners LLC and 777 Partners LLC, private equity funds founded by Joshua Wander and Steven Pasko, of Miami.
The companies used borrowed money to buy legal settlements from beneficiaries of, for example, wrongful death lawsuits. They also raised money from investors who were promised 10% annual dividends.
From 2021 through mid-2024, the companies raised $237 million from 13 investors.
But according to court records, the holding companies were already in dire financial condition in 2021. Borrowed funds had been misused, collateral was double-pledged, and the accounts were overdrawn by $300 million.
Alfalla and the co-founders knew, or recklessly disregarded, that they “had no realistic prospects of earning net income sufficient to pay the dividend,” according to the civil case complaint.
Even so, according to the SEC, the men “continued to raise money from additional investors using materially false and misleading information.”
Ten days after Alfalla was arrested last year, he pleaded guilty. Sentencing is scheduled for July 13.
On Dec. 11, in the SEC lawsuit, he consented to a permanent ban on acting as an officer or director of any issuer of securities.
The civil case is still pending against Wander and Pasco. Wander also was charged criminally, and he pleaded not guilty and was released on a $15 million personal appearance bond.
