SEC Charges New Jersey Resident with Investment Advisor Fraud

USA: SEC Charges New Jersey Resident with Investment Advisor Fraud

A New Jersey resident has been charged with alleged investment adviser fraud, according to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey on Jan. 20, 2026. The complaint identifies Joel B. Sofia as the defendant and cites his advisory firm, WOLO Wealth Inc., as the vehicle for the alleged misconduct.

Allegations

According to the SEC complaint, Sofia misrepresented his professional background and experience in the finance industry, and falsely guaranteed that clients would not lose money. He also claimed to have developed proprietary trading software, a claim the agency says was untrue.

Client Access and Losses

The complaint states that Sofia persuaded at least three clients to grant him direct access to their brokerage accounts so he could execute trades on their behalf. By January 2023, the alleged fraud is reported to have caused client losses exceeding $1.6 million.

Regulatory Action

The SEC alleges violations of Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and is seeking permanent injunctive relief and civil penalties against Sofia.

Investigation Team

The investigation was conducted by Karen M. Lee, Melissa A. Coppola, Christopher J. Dunnigan, and Sandeep Satwalekar, supervised by Thomas P. Smith, Jr., all from the SEC’s New York Regional Office. Litigation will be led by Lee and Dunnigan and supervised by Daniel Loss.

Enforcement Context

This action follows a series of recent SEC enforcement efforts targeting unregistered investment advisers who provide false assurances and unauthorized access to client accounts.

This report is based on information from SEC, licensed under Public Domain (U.S. Government Work). Source: Official U.S. Government release.