Litigation Releases (Gauntlet Holdings, LLC; Darrell W. Rideaux; Ali Derakhshanfar; Sal N. Ortiz)

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 26594 / July 24, 2026

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Gauntlet Holdings, LLC, et al., No. 25-cv-00492 (C.D. Cal. filed Mar. 13, 2025)

SEC Obtains Final Judgments Against California-Based Company, Two Individuals, and Relief Defendant for Their Roles in Alleged Offering Fraud Schemes

On July 15, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California entered a final judgment as to defendants Gauntlet Holdings, LLC and Gauntlet's managing member Darrell W. Rideaux in a previously-filed action alleging the defendants engaged in a securities offering fraud. The Court previously entered a final judgment by default as to defendant Ali Derakhshanfar on November 4, 2025 and a final consent judgment as to relief defendant Sal N. Ortiz on July 14, 2025.

The SEC's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleged two fraudulent schemes. In the first scheme, the SEC alleged that Gauntlet, Rideaux, and Derakhshanfar engaged in a scheme to defraud a company by selling it promissory notes the defendants falsely claimed were backed by $7.98 billion held at a bank in Doha by the royal family of Qatar. In the second scheme, Gauntlet and Rideaux allegedly defrauded an individual investor out of $1 million by offering an investment opportunity that promised high returns, but that ultimately failed to pay the victim any profit or provide the victim with a return of the money he invested. As alleged, Rideaux made numerous misrepresentations to the investor, including by sending the investor a misleading video purporting to show Gauntlet's online bank account, when, in fact, the account did not belong to Gauntlet.

The final judgments against Gauntlet, Rideaux, and Derakhshanfar permanently enjoin them from violating the anti-fraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. In addition, Gauntlet and Rideaux were ordered to pay, on a joint and several basis, disgorgement of $842,500 plus prejudgment interest of $165,809 and a civil penalty of $842,500, and Derakhshanfar was ordered to pay disgorgement of $500,000 plus prejudgment interest of $143,837 and a civil penalty of $500,000. The final consent judgment as to relief defendant Ortiz ordered him to pay disgorgement of $142,500.

The SEC's case was handled by Jonathan T. Menitove, Rua M. Kelly, Colin D. Forbes, Patrick J. Noone, Mark Albers, and Celia D. Moore of the SEC's Boston Regional Office.