Jon Freeze Charged in Alleged Alternative Energy Holdings Fraud

Former Canonsburg, Pennsylvania broker and investment adviser Jon Freeze (CRD# 2642023) was recently named in a pending Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action alleging he participated in a fraud involving a company called Alternative Energy Holdings. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) records show that Freeze is currently not registered as a broker or an investment adviser

According to Jon Freeze’s BrokerCheck report, an SEC action filed in June 2021 alleges that as an officer or managing member of Alternative Energy Holdings, he “raised approximately $2.1 million from at least 25 investors through a fraudulent offering of securities in the form of at least 31 promissory notes.” The complaint goes on to state that he and other defendants used investor funds for their own personal benefits and to repay an existing investor. The SEC alleges that the defendants induced investors to invest in Alternative Energy Holdings by telling them the funds would be used “for expenses related to a number of waste-to-energy projects in which AEH was involved.” Some of the investors, according to the complaint, were Jon Freeze’s broker-dealer customers. The SEC alleges that Freeze told investors he had personally invested in Alternate Energy Holdings even though he had not, and that he and other defendants “deceived investors by promising outsized returns on the promissory notes.” The complaint alleges that their conduct constituted violations of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint remains pending.

Jon Freeze’s BrokerCheck report also lists seven settled investor complaints and one pending investor complaint against him. The most recent complaint, filed in June 2019, alleges that as a representative of Fortune Financial Services, he “facilitated the authorized liquidation of $175k from clients[‘] accounts to purchase promissory notes.” The pending complaint alleges damages of $175,000.

A complaint filed in 2019 alleged that as a representative of Fortune Financial Services, he requested and received funds to be invested in Alternative Energy Holdings, which the complaint states was possibly outside the scope of his broker-dealer firm. The complaint reached a settlement in 2021 of $102,305.

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Jon Freeze holds 21 years of securities industry experience. He is not currently registered as a broker or an investment adviser. His previous registrations include Fortune Financial Services in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania; Summit Brokerage Services in Fredericksburg, Virginia; LPL Financial in Fredericksburg, Virginia; the Lincoln National Life Insurance Company in Glastonbury, Connecticut; and the Lincoln National Life Insurance Company in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. He has passed five securities industry qualifying examinations: the Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination, or Series 65; the Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, or Series 63; the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; and the Investment Company Products/Variable Contracts Representative Examination, or Series 6. He holds zero state securities licenses. (Information current as of July 14, 2021.)