INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales and Indiana Securities Commissioner, Marie Castetter announced a settlement with precious metals dealer Safeguard Metals, LLC and Jeffrey Ikahn in a federal lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleged that Safeguard and Ikahn engaged in a nationwide $68 million fraudulent scheme that targeted the elderly. The lawsuit was filed in February 2022, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The investigation and settlement were in partnership with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and 29 other state regulators.
More than a dozen Hoosiers were victims of the investment scam and should receive payments exceeding $850,000 under the settlement.
“The Indiana Securities Division and its investigators continue to work diligently with agencies nationwide to stand up for Hoosiers and take down the bad actors. Hoosier investors lost a significant amount of money in this case. Those who prey on our vulnerable, elderly population should be held accountable. Our officials remain focused on educating all Hoosiers on best practices to protect themselves and to avoid schemes,” said Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales.
The order also finds that the defendants charged an average markup of 51 to 71 percent on the precious metals, substantially more than the amounts the defendants represented in Safeguard Metals’ customer agreements as “operating margins” of 23 to 42 percent. Safeguard Metals steered over 97 percent of its sales from mostly inexperienced investors into overpriced silver coins with significantly higher markups than gold coins and generated approximately $66 million for Safeguard.
Secretary Morales and the Securities Division wish to thank the CFTC, other state regulators, and the SEC for their assistance in this action.
