The SEC has filed a civil action and obtained an asset freeze against a fund promoter that the SEC alleges lied about his background in promotional materials.  The SEC alleges that the defendant attempted to solicit investors by claiming he ran a hedge fund based on quantitative models developed as a student at Harvard and later while working at Barclays Capital.  The SEC complaint states that the defendant was expelled from Harvard after three semesters and never worked at Barclays.  The SEC also alleges that the defendant’s marketing materials falsely claimed that Ernst & Young audited the fund and that Credit Suisse provided prime brokerage services.  Although neither defendant nor the firm was registered as an investment adviser, the SEC brought the case under the anti-fraud rules.