The SEC announced that on 5/21/12, a Federal District Judge in the Southern District of Florida entered Final Judgments against two southern Florida residents, James Clements and Zeina Smidi.  The SEC charged them in early 2011 with having run a $30mn Ponzi. In his Final Judgments, Judge William Dimitrouleas issued the following orders:  Clements would pay about $768K in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. Smidi would pay nearly $5.6mn in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. SEC Findings and Allegations. Both Defendants resided in Plantation, FL, and operated their alleged scheme through companies they jointly controlled: MRT;  MRT Holdings; Maximum Return Transaction - collectively “MRT”.  Investors were offered guaranteed monthly returns as high as 11%.   MRT and Clements used certain investors who agreed to be “account managers” to solicit hundreds of investors through informal gatherings and word of mouth. From 2005 until the end of 2006, MRT, Clements and Smidi told investors that MRT that their funds were used in forex (foreign currency) trades.  In June 2007, Clements notified investors and account agents that MRT would no longer invest in forex trading, but would work with the best Swiss banks and advisors;  investors were told they could choose to roll over their existing investment and make future ones into a fixed rate account with a one-year holding period that earned up to 25% annually, or a high-yield savings account that earned up to 15% annually but allowed monthly withdrawals.   [SEC Litigation Release, 6/18/12] For more information on earlier actions in this case, see:  [SEC Litigation Release 21910, 3/30/11].