Ray Lucia’s Battle Against The SEC Begins Again

Feb. 06--Financial planning guru Ray Lucia is continuing his David vs. Goliath battle against the U.S. government -- and it is proving to be the fight of his life.

Lucia went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of a Securities and Exchange Commission disciplinary action against him -- for statements made in his retirement investment seminars -- and he won last June.

Now, the San Diegan is facing the same uphill battle again.

This time, though, the Washington D.C.-based New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) has jumped in to defend him. The alliance was founded to address what it sees as an unconstitutional abuse of administrative power.

"Ray lost his home. He lost his retirement savings," says NCLA attorney Margaret "Peggy" Little, calling his punishment draconian for a minor error. "He is living very modestly, unable to engage in his chosen profession, banned for life by a (administrative law) judge. He also employed other family members who lost their jobs."

She refers to the SEC's action as "an occupational death sentence" that made Lucia unemployable, not just in the securities field, but in other jobs as well -- all because of a regulatory transgression that had no known victims.

In fact, the local talk radio personality once known for his "buckets of money" investment strategy, nearly lost his life, Little contends. She is referring to the near-fatal heart attack Lucia suffered three years into the appeal process (although that can't be directly linked to the legal stress).

When the Supreme Court threw out the SEC's disciplinary action against Lucia, which was challenged because the administrative law judge who rendered the punishment was not constitutionally appointed, as required by law, the SEC was free to drop the case or retry it. The SEC subsequently decided to re-hear the case under a different constitutionally appointed administrative law judge.

Little says this could subject Lucia to the same costly, multi-step appeals process all over again. The SEC administrative law judge is protected from removal by multiple layers of tenure, which was determined in a 2010 Supreme Court decision to be unconstitutional. Instead, Lucia's case should be heard by the SEC itself or in a district court, which are both options, Little argues.

The NCLA, together with Lucia's Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher lawyers, have filed for a preliminary injunction here in U.S. District Court. Due to the partial government shutdown, the hearing, originally set for Feb. 1, was postponed until March 22.

When reached Wednesday in Washington, D.C., a spokesperson for the SEC declined to comment.

"We're laser-focused on cases where the government has overreached and is going after people or where the government is doing an end-run around the Constitution," explains Little. "No American should have to undergo what Ray Lucia has experienced. We hope to bring the plight of the many citizens facing such never-ending prosecutions to the attention of the American public."

Surely, most people would have caved and settled with the SEC to cut their losses. If they do, they are required to agree to a gag rule not to discuss the case, which means they can't deny its allegations.

Neither Lucia nor the NCLA would comment on whether a settlement offer had been made. "I believe in this case and its principles," says Lucia, "and I'm prepared to take them all the way."

"Ray is a poster child," says Judy Pino of the NCLA. "He has the conviction and belief in himself to risk losing everything, and he did lose everything."

Putting Funner on the map: Harrah's Resort SoCal is looking for a new mayor for its small city of Funner, which encompasses the casino property in north San Diego County's Valley Center area.

David Hasselhoff has been the face of Funner since the resort's 2017 remodel and re-branding campaign. The former Baywatch leading lifeguard starred in a lighthearted advertising blitz that featured him carving a bust of himself out of cheese, standing atop a resort water feature, and much more.

But Hasselhoff's mayoral term -- aka contract -- is coming to an end, and a casino spokesperson says a new mayor will be announced this spring.

Meanwhile, the resort kicked off a mayoral write-in campaign during the Super Bowl. Asking that short videos be uploaded to its social media sites, Harrahs SoCal is searching for a mayor among the masses. The winner, though, will be mayor for a day, not the duration.

Marketing director Amber Lussier asked her local advertising firm, i.d.e.a., to produce some TV spots as soon as Harrah's SoCal parent company, Caesars Entertainment, inked a sponsorship deal with the NFL only weeks ago. "We're the first and only casino sponsor of the NFL," she says.

One regional 30-second spot aired during the Super Bowl, plus Harrah's ran three pre-game and one post-game spots. While Lussier refrained from divulging the cost, she noted they were considerably cheaper than the national commercials, which hit a new high of $5.25 million for a 30-second spot.

The ads were designed to have a low-budget, shot-in-the garage, YouTube feel. "We wanted these to look like they were lost audition tapes from the 1980s filmed on a video recorder," said Lussier, noting that this would make them stand out from the other sleek, sophisticated commercials.

While the results of their "off-the-cuff, out-of-the-box" commercials are still coming in, she is pleased with the response so far. "The feedback overall has been better than expected."

[email protected]

(619) 293-1518

Twitter: @dianebellSD

Facebook: dianebell.news

___

(c)2019 The San Diego Union-Tribune

Visit The San Diego Union-Tribune at www.sandiegouniontribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.