The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Andrew Spaventa and three entities he controlled over a $74 million pre-IPO fund scheme that allegedly used more than 100 cold-calling sales agents to sell mostly retail investors access to private technology companies while concealing steep markups and layered fees. The SEC said that from December 2020 to June 2025, Spaventa, The Spaventa Group, TSG Capital Advisors and TSG Alpha Partners raised money from more than 800 investors for 11 private funds, with more than 650 people investing $100,000 or less and more than 100 investors identified as retirees. Regulators alleged Spaventa bought positions through affiliated entities and resold them to his own funds in principal transactions at prices that were on average 46% above his cost, with some markups reaching 91%, generating about $23 million in undisclosed fees. The complaint cites funds tied to SpaceX, Anduril, Anthropic and Perplexity AI and says the structure often added a second layer of fees because more than 90% of holdings were stakes in other private pre-IPO funds rather than direct company shares. The SEC also alleged agents were coached to avoid the word commission, describe fees misleadingly and cite past successes in Airbnb, Palantir and SoFi that the funds had never held. Spaventa denied the allegations by phone and said he plans to defend himself. The SEC is seeking disgorgement, civil penalties and a permanent bar from the securities industry.