Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. today announced the guilty plea of ALAN BURAK, 41, for operating an investment fraud scheme that recruited dozens of people to invest with his fraudulent firm, Never Alone Capital, LLC, and stealing over $4 million of their investments for his personal use between April 2018 and May 2023.

BURAK pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to one count of Grand Larceny in the First Degree, one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, and two counts of Securities Fraud. Under the terms of his plea, he is expected to be sentenced on May 12, 2026 to a promised term of 3-to-9 years in state prison and $4.1 million in judgment orders for 12 victims.

“Alan Burak now faces significant prison time for his elaborate, fraudulent scheme. He defrauded twelve individuals out of millions of dollars, including loved ones who trusted him for financial advice,” said District Attorney Bragg. “I hope this conviction sends a message that those who steal hard earned money will be held accountable.”

According to court documents and statements made on the record, and as admitted in the defendant’s guilty plea, BURAK first recruited investors among family and friends who live in Mexico. He later presented as a speaker for an organization which provides financial education to the Latino community and solicited investments from the students, who only had modest funds to invest but trusted his expertise as their instructor.

BURAK falsely claimed that NAC had been operating since 2006 and had been profitable each year. He also claimed to have $157 million in assets under management, when the total amount he received from investors was approximately $5 million. Additionally, BURAK lied to investors saying that he had securities licenses, and guaranteed high rates of return. In one instance, he promised a 50% return on investment in just three months.

BURAK sent investors fraudulent weekly or monthly “Account and Activity Statements” that showed their investments were consistently growing. These Account and Activity Statements convinced some investors to continue sending additional money to NAC.

As part of the scheme, BURAK also falsified documents, including one purporting to be from a brokerage firm stating that NAC had over $197 million in assets in an account. The monthly balance in NAC’s brokerage account was never more than $27,500. 

Investors sent more than $4 million to NAC’s operating account in the United States, including more than $2 million from one investor alone. However, BURAK sent only $266,285 from that operating account to brokerage houses. He sent more than $5 million that he received from investors, as well as from business loans and cash advances he took against the business, to his personal savings account for personal expenses. 

By 2023, BURAK stopped allowing investors to withdraw funds, even though they had received Account and Activity Statements reflecting that they had funds available to cash out. Despite their repeated requests, BURAK did not pay investors the money they were due. In certain cases, he offered payment plans or provided investors with pictures of postdated checks that bounced. 

Assistant D.A.s Michael Luongo, Elyssa Abuhoff and Anne Ternes are handling the prosecution of this case under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s Hope Korenstein (Deputy Chief of the Financial Frauds Unit), Kelly Thomas (Deputy Chief of the Financial Frauds Unit), Kofi Sansculotte (Chief of the Financial Frauds Bureau), Christine Payne (Deputy Chief of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau), Michael Ohm (Chief of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau), Judy Salwen (Deputy Chief of the Investigation Division), and Executive Assistant District Attorney Jodie Kane (Chief of the Investigation Division).

Principal Financial Investigator Jesse Mihalik; Rackets Investigator Luis Chuquiralao, Senior Rackets Investigator Frank Toro, and Supervising Rackets Investigators Max Adler and Brian Conway; Major Economic Crimes Bureau Paralegals Kaitlyn Saldanha, Caroline Sturgeon; former Investigative Analysts Katharine Hartmann, Serena Lu and Jaden Jarmel-Schneider; former Paralegals Varun Gaitonde, and Nicole Toney; Senior Computer Forensic Analyst Borislav Vestfrid, Privilege Review Data Specialist Olivia Savell and Assistant District Attorney John Cheever provided valuable assistance with the investigation.

D.A. Bragg thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, Morgan Stanley, and Interactive Brokers for their assistance with the investigation.

D.A. Bragg also thanked the U.S. Marshals Service, particularly Senior Deputy U.S. Marshal Sandy Rao from the NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force and Deputy U.S. Marshal Alexis Ochoa.

 

Defendant Information:

ALAN BURAK

New York, NY

Convicted:

• Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a class B felony, one count
• Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class E felony, one count
• Securities Fraud, a class E felony, one count
• Securities Fraud, a class E felony, one count

###