COLUMBUS – Nzambe Junior Yewawa, 38, of Orange, New Jersey, pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of felony theft in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas for soliciting money from two central Ohio residents to invest in his trading platform he stated was guaranteed against loss of principal.
He is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. on Feb. 9 by Judge Jeffrey Brown.
Yewawa was indicted March 23, 2022, by a Franklin County grand jury for soliciting a total of $51,000 from two Ohio investors. The indictment alleged Yewawa obtained the funds by deception, used the investor funds without consent and/or used their funds beyond the scope of authority granted by the investors. The crimes occurred between May and July of 2016.
The indictment followed a criminal referral by the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Securities.
This case was prosecuted by the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office of Gary Tyack and presented by Assistant County Prosecutor Brendan Inscho.
Before investing, the Division of Securities encourages potential investors to call the Division’s Investor Protection Hotline at 877-683-7841 to ask:
- Is the brokerage firm and salesperson licensed to sell securities in Ohio?
- Have any enforcement actions been taken against them?
- Has the security been properly registered with the Division of Securities?
