SEC: Brighton man ran Ponzi trading scheme targeting Air Force cadets

BRIGHTON — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has settled a case of an alleged ponzi scheme run out of Brighton that in part targeted Air Force Academy cadets.

In a complaint filed to the U.S. District Court of Colorado Monday, the government agency alleges Brighton resident Milton Dosal, 29, began soliciting funds for a penny stock day-trading operation in December 2017.

Day trading is a market strategy wherein a trader aims to buy and sell the same stock within the same trading day, hoping to find marginal gains off highly volatile stocks.

Dosal does not appear in the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s list of brokers, and the SEC alleges he has never held the securities license required to trade on others behalf.

By May 2018, the complaint alleges Dosal lost $17,060 out of the $22,000 he collected from investors and stopped trading, but continued to say he was day-trading to potential investors. The SEC claims he collected approximately $98,000 from 41 people over the next few years, which was never used for trading but rather to repay earlier investors and for personal gain.

In particular, the agency alleges Dosal recruited about 10 Air Force cadets in Colorado Springs, claiming he was able to provide returns of 5% to 10% per week by saying he was trading with algorithms and providing falsified account statements, when in fact he had closed his prior brokerage account.

Dosal has settled the charges without admitting guilt but agreed to a judgment to pay $106,769 in fines and remittances to his investors.

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