Three lifetime industry bars. Zero investor losses. No final decision.
FINRA imposed three lifetime bars and three expulsions against Manuel Fernandez and DreamFunded Marketplace. No investor lost money. No restitution was ordered. The total amount raised across all offerings was $15,000. The SEC has deferred its decision eleven times over 1,329 days.
“Uh, well, so the difference would be that there would possibly be, uh, findings in that settlement that relate to the fundraising and what happened to those funds. Whereas if we did it at this stage and it were on the basis of, you know, not providing those records, instead, it would say we made a request for certain records related to fundraising and, and the use of the proceed and the portal, and Mr. Fernandez said they would not provide, right. So there’s no findings of the actual issues that arise from that fundraising of what happened to the money. It’s just the fact that we asked for related to it. And those were not provided.”
Josh Doolittle, Lead FINRA Enforcement Investigator — Transcript at pages 3–4, Applicants’ Opening Brief, File No. 3-20639 (June 9, 2022)
On October 28, 2021, Manuel Fernandez filed an Application for Review with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He asked the SEC to review FINRA’s decision to impose three lifetime bars and three expulsions.
In plain language: Fernandez asked the SEC to look at what FINRA did and decide if it was fair. That was over three and a half years ago. The SEC still has not answered.
Merits briefing closed on August 23, 2022. Under SEC rules, a decision should follow. Instead, the SEC has issued eleven extension orders — each one pushing the deadline further.
The most recent deadline was April 13, 2026. On that date, the SEC issued Release No. 105209. It did not contain a decision. It granted FINRA another extension. The case remains open.
In plain language: The SEC gave itself a deadline. The deadline came. Instead of deciding, it gave itself more time. This has happened eleven times. Fernandez has been barred from the securities industry the entire time.
1,329 days have passed since merits briefing closed. Still no final decision.
A recorded call between Fernandez’s attorney and the lead FINRA investigator reveals the outcome may have been decided before the hearing took place.
The investigator said the ban would happen no matter what.
FINRA found no investor losses. No restitution was ordered. The total raised across all offerings was $15,000. Three lifetime bars were imposed anyway.
Nobody lost money. The punishment was the harshest possible.
In June 2024, the Supreme Court held that the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial applies to SEC fraud proceedings. SEC v. Jarkesy, 144 S. Ct. 2117 (2024).
The Supreme Court said people facing fraud charges from the SEC have a right to a jury.
In November 2024, the D.C. Circuit held that FINRA cannot bar members before the SEC completes its merits review. Alpine Securities v. FINRA, No. 23-5129 (D.C. Cir. 2024).
A federal court said FINRA cannot punish people while the SEC is still deciding the case.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 78s(e)(2), the Commission must set aside sanctions that are excessive or oppressive. A lifetime bar maintained in continuous effect for 1,329 days of unexplained post-briefing delay — while Petitioner is denied access to judicial review under 15 U.S.C. § 78y — is oppressive within the meaning of the statute independently of whether the original bar was justified.
Every day the SEC refuses to decide, the ban continues. The law does not allow the government to make a punishment worse by refusing to review it. The waiting has become the punishment.
Every claim on this site comes from the official public record. These pages walk through the facts, the law, and the documents.