The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission wants to take over a company that has billed itself as a viatical investment firm.
The SEC has asked the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, Calif., for an order that would temporarily prohibit further sale of fractional owner interests, freeze the firm’s assets and appoint a receiver to take control of the firm’s operations.
The SEC also is trying to impose fines on the firm and obtain permanent injunctions.
The defendants in the case include Secure Investment Services Inc., Redding, Calif., and two sister companies, American Financial Services Inc. and Lyndon Group Inc. The defendants also include Donald F. Neuhaus and Kimberly Snowden.
Neuhaus controls Secure Investment and the other companies, and Snowden is Neuhaus’s daughter, officials allege in a complaint filed Thursday.