The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and 30 state securities regulators, part of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), have declared a consent order against Safeguard Metals LLC and Jeffrey Ikahn a/k/a Jeffrey Santulan or Jeffrey Hill). They were found responsible for a nationwide fraudulent operation amounting to $68 million, which involved deceptively overpriced silver coin sales primarily targeting the elderly and those nearing retirement.
The court order holds the defendants accountable for the fraud and prohibits them from further infractions of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), CFTC guidelines, and state laws. The defendants are also barred from trading or registering with the CFTC and participating states. A decision regarding restitution, disgorgement, and civil penalties will be made at a later date.
Between October 2017 and July 2021, Safeguard Metals (website) and Jeffrey Ikahn a/k/a Jeffrey Santulan solicited roughly $68 million, primarily from about 450 individuals’ retirement funds, for purchasing mainly silver coins. Their scheme involved misleading customers about the risks and safety of traditional retirement investments and grossly inflating the cost of silver coins. For instance, the defendants charged an average markup of 71%, despite agreements indicating a maximum of 23%. This caused significant immediate losses for their customers.
Safeguard fraudulently marketed itself as a full-service investment firm with offices in London, New York City, and Beverly Hills that employed prominent individuals in the securities industry and had $11 billion in assets under management. In reality, Jeffrey Santulan allegedly operated the company from a small leased space in a Woodland Hills, Calif. office building using sales agents.
In a related action, the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit against Safeguard Metals and Ikahn on February 1, 2022, due to the fraudulent precious metals operation. On June 14, a similar consent order was enacted by the SEC, where the defendants admitted their liability.
