Toluca Lake Substance Abuse Treatment Center Settles Fraud Case

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Securities and Exchange Commission Friday settled fraud charges against the owner-operator of a Toluca Lake substance abuse treatment center who raised more than $7.7 million from 100-plus investors in an unregistered securities offering.

From 2013 to 2016, now-defunct Sobriety & Addiction Solutions, known also as MyLife Recovery Centers, touted to investors its exclusive license to use a subcutaneous implant of Naltrexone to treat alcohol and opioid dependency, according to the SEC's complaint.

However, for at least one year, owner-operator Daniel Markel failed to inform investors that MyLife used implants compounded and manufactured in China, in violation of Federal Drug Administration regulations, according to the SEC.

MyLife's reliance on the Chinese-manufactured implants posed a direct threat to its business plan, future prospects, and value of securities, none of which was ever disclosed, federal regulators alleged.

Markel agreed to settle the matter by consenting, without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations, to the entry of a final judgment that permanently enjoins him from future violations of anti-fraud law, the SEC reported.

In addition, the judgment orders Markel to disgorge $439,678 of commission payments, pay prejudgment interest of $65,224, and pay a civil penalty of $189,427, according to the SEC.

Markel also consented to an administrative order barring him from working in the securities industry, with the right to reapply in five years.

MyLife is now defunct and DT Securities, the broker-dealer firm that Markel used to conduct the unregistered offerings for MyLife, was expelled from Financial Industry Regulatory Authority membership in 2016, according to the SEC.

City News Service