The Securities and Exchange Commission charged William Sarris and Joseph Endoso, both former executives of San Jose, California-based Linqto, Inc., on October 9, 2026. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The charges are allegations, and the SEC seeks injunctions, disgorgement with interest, civil penalties and officer and director bars.
According to the SEC, a Linqto subsidiary sold more than $430 million of special purpose vehicles holding interests in private companies to retail investors from at least 2021 to 2024. The complaint says the executives misled investors in four ways: indicating prices reflected current market conditions or were below market when almost all offerings were priced above fair value; saying certain securities were “sold out” or “fully subscribed” when more shares were available; claiming an algorithm automatically set certain prices when Linqto staff still set them by hand; and touting compliance with securities laws after counsel had warned the business violated them.
The SEC also alleges the two unlawfully operated unregistered investment companies and sold securities in unregistered transactions to unaccredited investors. The complaint charges both under Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act, plus Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act, and charges Sarris with control person liability.