Litigation Releases (Waldon Fenster)

On September 3, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a settled action as to former Downers Grove, Illinois resident Waldon Fenster, an unregistered investment adviser and founder of a private fund known as "Last Mile Loan," alleging that Fenster lied to investors and misappropriated money for gambling and personal expenses.

According to the SEC's complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, from January 2023 to March 2024, Fenster raised approximately $3.6 million for the fund from 23 individual investors. As alleged in the complaint, Fenster told investors that the fund would generate profits of more than 20% by issuing short-term, high-interest bridge loans to small businesses that were seeking greater financing from established lenders. According to the complaint, however, the fund never issued any loans. Rather, Fenster allegedly misappropriated more than $2.5 million from the fund's investors' funds for gambling, trips, and personal living expenses, and returned the remainder of investors' funds to certain investors whom he hoped would refer new potential investors to the fund. In addition, as alleged in the complaint, when investors reached out to Fenster seeking to withdraw money from the fund, Fenster offered excuses for why they could not withdraw and falsely represented that the fund had earned substantial returns.

Without admitting the allegations in the SEC's complaint, Fenster consented to the entry of a final judgment, subject to court approval, in which he agreed to be permanently enjoined from violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1), 206(2), and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-8 thereunder; to pay $2,516,120.80 in disgorgement plus $450,012.39 in prejudgment interest and a $236,451.00 civil penalty; and to be prohibited from issuing, purchasing, offering, or selling any security, except for purchases or sales for his own personal account, and from being associated with any broker, dealer, or investment adviser.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Matthew Connelly and Rebecca Hollenbeck of the SEC's Chicago Regional Office under the supervision of Anne Graber Blazek.