Boiler room raised $74 million selling retirees SpaceX, Anduril, Anthropic, and Perplexity while reaping ‘massive hidden fees,’ SEC claims
Fortune 22 ● 2 sources
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleges The Spaventa Group ran a boiler-room-style sales operation that cold-called investors to buy shares in private tech firms including SpaceX, Anduril, Anthropic, and Perplexity. The SEC claims the scheme collected more than $74 million from December 2020 to June 2025 and charged investors average markups of 46% above what Spaventa’s companies paid, with the highest case reaching 91%. As a result, the SEC sued Spaventa and related entities for fraud and securities/broker-dealer registration violations and is seeking disgorgement, civil penalties, and a permanent industry ban.