The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on October 8, 2026 charges against Darren J. Caris and his firm, Caris Investment Partners, Inc., of Encinitas, California, for allegedly defrauding clients through a cherry-picking scheme and related false statements. The complaint was filed October 6 in the Southern District of California.
According to the SEC, from December 2023 to April 2024 Caris placed trades through the firm’s block trading account and later in the day disproportionately allocated profitable trades to his personal account and unprofitable trades to some clients’ accounts. The SEC also alleges he and the firm made false and misleading statements to clients and prospects about how trades were allocated, how his personal trading conflicts were managed, and the firm’s move to a different broker-dealer custodian.
They are charged under Section 17(a) of the Securities Act, Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5, and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Advisers Act. The SEC seeks injunctions, disgorgement with interest and civil penalties. The charges are allegations.