The US Securities and Exchange Commission is pressing fraud charges against the co-owners of a Manhattan brokerage firm.

The SEC alleges that as Arjent LLC and its British affiliate Arjent Limited were approaching insolvency, chairman and CEO Robert DePalo attempted to keep the firms afloat and maintain his extravagant lifestyle by selling shares in a holding company called Pangaea Trading Partners.

DePalo, along with managing director and co-owner Joshua Gladtke, allegedly misled investors about the value of Pangaea’s assets and the way in which their money would be used. He then allegedly transferred the first tranche of $2.3 million raised in the offering directly to his own bank accounts and used it for his personal benefit. DePalo also allegedly transferred investor funds to Gladtke and made 'misrepresentations' to SEC regulators about it. The SEC is also alleging that the pair later falsified records in an effort to cover up their misdeeds.

While this is going on, the New York County District Attorney’s Office is pressing its own criminal charges against DePalo and Gladtke.