Securities and Exchange Commission v. Frank Igwealor, Patience Ogbozor, Alpharidge Capital, LLC, American Community Capital, LP, GiveMePower, Inc., Kid Castle Educational

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: December 18, 2025
• Docket: 2:24-cv-09941
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7

8 SECURITIES AND Case No. 2:24-cv-09941-SRM-PDx 9 EXCHANGE 10 COMMISSION, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 11 Plaintiff, (PD Version) 12 vs. Check if submitted without 13 ☐ FRANK IGWEALOR, PATIENCE material modifications to PD form

14 OGBOZOR, ALPHARIDGE CAPITAL, LLC, AMERICAN 15 COMMUNITY CAPITAL, LP, 16 GIVEMEPOWER, INC., KID CASTLE EDUCATIONAL 17 CORPORATION, LOS ANGELES 18 COMMUNITY CAPITAL, AND VIDEO RIVER NETWORKS, INC., 19

20 Defendants.

1. INTRODUCTION 22 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 23 Discovery in this Action is likely to involve production of confidential, 24 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 25 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 26 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 27 1 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 2 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 3 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 4 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth 5 in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to 6 file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the 7 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 8 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 9 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 10 The parties have conferred in good faith and jointly acknowledge that 11 discoverable material in this case includes non-public, sensitive personal 12 information, such that there is good cause supporting the entry of this Stipulated 13 Protective Order. In particular, Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission 14 (“Commission” or “SEC”) expects to produce its investigative file related to this 15 Action, which includes the production of documents from Non-Parties. These 16 documents may include personally sensitive information, including social security 17 number or taxpayer identification number (other than only the last four digits 18 thereof), an individual’s birth date (other than only the year of the individual’s 19 birth), the name of an individual known to be a minor (other than only the minor’s 20 initials), or a financial account number (other than only last four digits thereof), and 21 home addresses. In addition, some of the documents produced by non-parties were 22 produced to the SEC bearing language requesting confidentiality. The parties 23 submit that good cause exists to treat as confidential such private information, and 24 therefore seek a Stipulated Protective Order that is not unlimited in scope. See 25 Oliner v. Kontrabecki, 745 F.3d 1024, 1026 (9th Cir. 2014). 26 27 1 2. DEFINITIONS 2 2.1 Action: This pending litigation involves allegations by Plaintiff 3 Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission” or “SEC”) that Defendant 4 Frank Igwealor, either with or in conjunction with other Defendants, engaged in a 5 scheme to 1) obtain control of publicly-traded penny stock companies; 2) 6 misappropriate funds from one such company for the purchase of his private home; 7 and 3) enrich himself further through unlawful sales of stock in some of those 8 companies. 9 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 10 designation of information or items under this Order. 11 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 12 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 13 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 14 the Good Cause Statement. 15 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 16 their support staff). 17 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 18 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 19 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 20 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 21 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 22 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 23 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 24 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 25 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 26 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 27 1 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 2 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 3 counsel. 4 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 5 other legal entity not named as a Party to this Action. 6 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 7 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and 8 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 9 which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 10 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 11 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 12 support staffs). 13 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 14 Discovery Material in this Action. 15 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 16 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 17 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 18 and their employees and subcontractors. 19 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 20 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 21 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 22 Material from a Producing Party. 23 24 3. SCOPE 25 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 26 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 27 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 1 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 2 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 3 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the 4 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 5 4. DURATION 6 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 7 imposed by this Order will remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees 8 otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition will be 9 deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with 10 or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and 11 exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, 12 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time 13 pursuant to applicable law. 14 15 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 16 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 17 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 18 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 19 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 20 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 21 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, 22 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 23 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 24 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 25 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 26 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 27 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 1 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 2 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 3 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 4 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 5 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 6 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 7 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 8 produced. 9 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 10 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 11 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that 12 the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 13 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 14 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 15 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 16 markings in the margins). 17 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 18 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has 19 indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the 20 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for 21 inspection will be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has 22 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 23 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this 24 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must 25 affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. 26 If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 27 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 1 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the 2 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 3 protected testimony. 4 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for 5 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 6 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 7 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 8 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected 9 portion(s). 10 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 11 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 12 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 13 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 14 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 15 Order. 16 17 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 18 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 19 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 20 Scheduling Order. 21 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute 22 resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.1 23 et seq. 24 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on 25 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 26 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 27 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 1 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 2 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 3 challenge. 4 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 6 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 7 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 8 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 9 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 10 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 11 DISPOSITION). 12 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 13 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 14 authorized under this Order. 15 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 16 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 17 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 18 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 19 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 20 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 21 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 22 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 23 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 24 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 25 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 26 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 27 (d) the Court and its personnel; 1 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 2 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 3 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 4 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 5 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 6 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the 7 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 8 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they 9 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 10 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 11 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 12 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 13 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 14 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 15 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 16 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 17 18 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 19 IN OTHER LITIGATION 20 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 21 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 22 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 23 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 24 will include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 25 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 26 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 27 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include 1 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 2 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 3 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 4 the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this 5 Action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 6 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 7 permission. The Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking 8 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 9 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 10 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 11 12 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 13 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 14 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 15 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” In particular, the 16 SEC’s investigative file includes documents produced to by Non-Parties, including 17 documents bearing language requesting confidentiality. Such documents and 18 subsequently produced to any defendant in the Litigation shall likewise be treated as 19 Confidential. Such information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this 20 litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in 21 these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking 22 additional protections. 23 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 24 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 25 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 26 confidential information, then the Party will: 27 1 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 2 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 3 agreement with a Non-Party; 4 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 5 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 6 specific description of the information requested; and 7 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 8 Non-Party, if requested. 9 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 10 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 11 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 12 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will 13 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 14 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 15 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense 16 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 17 18 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 20 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 21 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 22 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 23 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 24 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 25 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 26 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 27 1 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 2 PROTECTED MATERIAL 3 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 4 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 5 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 6 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever 7 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 8 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and 9 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 10 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 11 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated 12 protective order submitted to the court. 13 14 12. MISCELLANEOUS 15 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 16 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 17 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 18 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 19 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 20 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 21 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 22 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 23 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 24 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 25 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material 26 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 27 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 1 create an admission by any party that any material disclosed in this case is relevant 2 or admissible. Each party specifically reserves the right to object to the use or 3 admissibility of all material disclosed, in accordance with applicable law and Court 4 rules. 5 12.5 Notwithstanding any of the foregoing terms, the SEC may use and 6 disclose, without notice to defendants or any other person, any and all documents 7 produced in this Action to the extent permitted by law in conjunction with its 8 obligations and responsibilities to investigate potential violations of, and enforce, 9 the federal securities laws, consistent with the “Routine Uses of Information” set 10 forth in the Commission’s Form 1662 (Supplemental Information for Persons 11 Requested to Supply Information Voluntarily or Directed to Supply Information 12 Pursuant to a Commission Subpoena), annexed as an Exhibit B hereto. 13 14 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 15 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 16 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 17 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 18 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 19 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 20 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 21 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 22 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 23 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 24 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 25 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 26 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 27 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 1 || reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 2 || materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 3 || constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 4 || Section 4 (DURATION). 5 6 || 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 7 || contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary 8 || authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 9 || ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 10 DATED: December 17, 2025 /s/ Elisa S. Solomon Elisa S. Solomon (NY Bar No. 5246236) 12 Abigail Rosen (NY Bar No. 4397048) B Thomas W. Peirce (NJ Bar No. 005122001) 100 Pearl Street 14 New York, NY 10004 15 Email: RosenAb@sec.gov Telephone: (212) 336-0473 (Rosen) 16 Attorneys for Plaintiff 17 SiS DATED: December 17, 2025 19 Timothy Cornell 20 Ten Post Office Square Boston, MA 02109 21 Email: tcornell@cornelldolan.com 22 Telephone: (617) 850-9036 33 Attorneys for Defendant

24 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 26 || DATED: December 18, 2025 Falun Lena hug _ HON. PATRICIA DONAHUE 27 United States Magistrate Judge 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ 5 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 7 District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of 8 ___________ [insert case name and number]. I agree to comply with and to be 9 bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and 10 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment 11 in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner 12 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any 13 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 15 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 17 termination of this Action. 18 19 Date: ______________________________________ 20 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 21 Printed name: _______________________________ 22 23 Signature: __________________________________ 24 25 26 27