California Man Bought Palantir Stock at pre-IPO price. Got Greedy and Blew It Away.
A California man was targeted by the SEC for blowing away investors’ money. Had he waited, he would have made a lot of money.
Ivan Moad, 43, of Newport Beach, California, was the managing member and sole control person of Moma Fund II, LLC, a California investment vehicle he established in December 2013 to pool investor money. Acting as an investment adviser, Moad raised approximately $1.26 million from at least 17 investors between February 2019 and September 2020, recruiting them largely through the Newport Beach social clubs he frequented and from a circle of people who had previously invested with him in pre-IPO shares. The pitch was specific and appealing: their money would buy employee-owned pre-IPO shares of Palantir Technologies, the data analytics company, before it went public, and those shares could rise significantly after the IPO. Moma Fund’s operating agreement stated the fund’s purpose was to invest in Palantir shares, and disclosed that Moad, as manager, would receive 20% of any profits. He bought the Palantir shares in early September 2020 at an average price of $6.94. Palantir went public on September 30, 2020, and the price rose sharply. Then, according to the SEC, Moad began selling the fund’s shares and transferring the proceeds to his own bank account, ultimately misappropriating over $2.1 million net beyond the 20% he was entitled to. On August 13, 2026, the SEC issued a settled order against him.
Without admitting or denying the findings, Moad consented to an SEC order finding that he willfully violated the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, and the Investment Advisers Act, including the provisions governing advisers to pooled investment vehicles. The order bars him from association with any investment adviser, broker, dealer, or other regulated entity, and from serving in various capacities for registered investment companies. It requires him to pay disgorgement of $2,060,075, prejudgment interest of $700,120, and a civil penalty of $236,451, for a total of nearly $3 million. The investigation was handled by the SEC’s Los Angeles office.
Palantir stock was trading at $175 today. Had he waited, he would have had a lot of money. Lots.
This is what happens when you are a greedy, cheating thief!