Officials Seek to Bar TCI’s Massachusetts Operations

Massachusetts authorities moved Tuesday to put an Irvine-based firm out of business in the state in the latest effort to crack down on the fast-moving day-trading investment industry.

Regulators with the Massachusetts Securities Division asked the secretary of state’s office to stop TCI Corp. from soliciting customers in the state, and to impose fines for allegedly using deceptive marketing in newspapers and over the Internet.

Securities regulators accused TCI of soliciting customers to invest in a Ponzi scheme and failing to register with the state as an investment advisor.

TCI offers training to customers who want to get into so-called day-trading, the practice of buying and selling securities in very quick time increments to take advantage of minor fluctuations in price.

It’s a high-risk business, and the state has been cracking down on those who practice it as part of an effort to protect consumers who may not understand what they are getting into.

The case against TCI is the fifth brought by the state in recent months.

In the TCI case, authorities are targeting the company because of the high profit margins it advertised, such as a 170% annual return.

TCI representatives did not return a telephone message left Tuesday evening at the company’s headquarters.