Do Two New Fraud Cases in Massachusetts Reveal the Perils of Crowdfunding? Not So Fast

December 7, 2012 @ 6:03 pm By Bostinno

Between now and whenever the SEC releases its final crowdfunding guidelines, we’re likely to hear a lot more about the potential pitfalls of letting anyone invest in private companies. Just as in the run-up to legalizing crowdfunding, lots of that talk will center around fraud.

So headlines yesterday like Oil companies use ‘crowdfunding’ exception to defraud investors (BBJ) and Crowdfunding takes early hit in Massachusetts (InvestmentNews) got my attention. But, thankfully, these cases aren’t actually warnings about the dangers of crowdfunding at all. In fact, they have almost nothing to do with it.

Here’s how the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth describes the cases in a release:

Reg A - Form 1-A Filings Beta

Beta. Initial Form 1-A only. Target raise is the stated Amount to be Raised, totaled. Compared with the same dates one year earlier.

YTD: Jan 1, 2026 - Oct 25, 2026 vs Jan 1, 2025 - Oct 25, 2025

Number of Filings131Prior 126 +4.0%

Target Raise, Total$3.40BPrior $3.54B -3.9%

	This YTD	Year prior	Change
Filings	131	126	+4.0%
Target raise	$3.40B	$3.54B	-3.9%

Sponsored by the Crowded Media Group the leading digital news service covering the global Fintech Industry, including digital assets, crowdfunding, tokenization, and other innovations in capital markets. email us @CrowdfundInside

Source: DisclosureQuest. Initial Form 1-A only.

Created by Crowded Media Group

This display counts initial Form 1-A filings only. It does not represent subsequent filings, including Form 1-A/A amendments or Form 1-A POS post-qualification updates filed by the issuer. Amounts are the stated Amount to be Raised on the initial filing, not capital raised and not amounts revised in later filings.

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