The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged a private fund manager in a federal district court in Alabama with defrauding approximately 70 domestic and international investors from whom he raised at least $852,000 of crypto assets.

Renato Mariotti, a partner at Paul Hastings’s investigations and white-collar defense practice in the Am Law 50 firm’s Chicago office, is not involved in the SEC’s three-count fraud lawsuit against the defendant, James O. Ward, Jr., head of marketing for Apex Financial Institute Pvt. Ltd.

Renato Mariotti, partner at Paul Hastings. Courtesy photo Renato Mariotti, partner at Paul Hastings. (Courtesy photo)