An Investor Asked to Talk to a Customer. The SEC Says He Got an Impostor: Giga Founder and Ex-VP Settle $37 Million Fraud Case

Published Oct. 12, 2026. Case statuses are current as of that date. This article is based only on documents published by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Updated Oct. 20, 2026: The SEC filed a consent and proposed final judgment for a third defendant, former CFO Nihat Cardak, on Oct. 16, 2026. See "Update: Nihat Cardak" below.

Due diligence can be as simple as asking to speak with a customer. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, when one investor in a private software company did exactly that, the person on the other end of the line was a company executive pretending to work for the customer.

On Sept. 30, 2026, the SEC filed consents and proposed final judgments as to Robert Bernardi, the founder and former CEO of GigaMedia Access Corporation ("Giga"), a private software company, and Sunil Chandra, Giga's former vice president of international business development [1].

Important: The proposed judgments are subject to court approval. The SEC's release lists judgment documents for both men, but its text describes them as "subject to court approval"; we have not confirmed the date any judgment was entered.

What the SEC alleged

The SEC first sued in October 2021. According to its complaint, as summarized in the 2026 release [1]:

• Between March 2018 and August 2019, Bernardi raised more than $37 million from investors while repeatedly misrepresenting Giga's financial condition.
• After an investor asked to speak with a Giga customer, Bernardi arranged for the investor to speak with Chandra, who "pretended to be an employee at a company Bernardi claimed was a Giga customer."

The case is SEC v. Robert Bernardi, Nihat Cardak, and Sunil Chandra, No. 21-cv-08598, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The caption also names Nihat Cardak, Giga's former chief financial officer; see "Update: Nihat Cardak" below. The caption also names three relief defendants (people the SEC says received funds but who are not accused of wrongdoing); we do not name them here [1].

The settlements

Both men consented to final judgments, subject to court approval, that would permanently bar them from violating the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act and Exchange Act [1].

	Disgorgement	Prejudgment interest	How it's satisfied
Robert Bernardi	$4,700,000	$670,173.72	Deemed satisfied by restitution ordered in the parallel criminal case
Sunil Chandra	$50,000	$4,094.83	Deemed satisfied by restitution ordered in the parallel criminal case

The parallel criminal case

The SEC's release states that restitution orders were entered against both men in a parallel criminal case, United States v. Robert Bernardi and United States v. Sunil Chandra, No. 21 CR 616 (PGG), in the Southern District of New York [1]. A restitution order is entered at sentencing after a conviction, but the SEC release does not describe the criminal charges, pleas, verdicts or sentences, and this article is limited to what the SEC documents say.

Update: Nihat Cardak (Oct. 20, 2026)

On Oct. 16, 2026, the SEC filed a consent and proposed final judgment as to Nihat Cardak, Giga's former CFO, in the same civil case. The SEC's complaint, filed Oct. 20, 2021, alleged that Cardak and Giga's former CEO raised more than $37 million from investors between March 2018 and August 2019 while repeatedly misrepresenting the company's financial condition [4].

Cardak consented to the entry of a final judgment, subject to court approval, that would permanently enjoin him from violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, and order disgorgement of $210,400 plus $17,231.02 in prejudgment interest. Those amounts would be deemed satisfied by a restitution order entered against him in the parallel criminal case, United States v. Nihat Cardak, No. 21 CR 616 (PGG) (S.D.N.Y.) [4].

Why this kind of trick works

Reference checks are one of the few tools private-company investors have. A fake reference turns that tool against them: the investor walks away more confident than before. The SEC's allegations here are a reminder that you should find and contact a claimed customer yourself, rather than calling a number or meeting a person the company provides.

What "settled, subject to court approval" means

This is a civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, not a criminal prosecution. The SEC cannot send anyone to prison; it asks a federal judge for orders such as injunctions, repayment of allegedly ill-gotten gains (called disgorgement), interest on that money, civil penalties and industry bars.

In a settled action, the defendant agrees to a proposed judgment without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations. That is not a finding of liability by a court, and it is not a criminal conviction. A proposed judgment also does not take effect until a judge signs it. Litigation Release No. 26674 does not say whether Cardak admitted or denied the allegations. As of Oct. 20, 2026, we have not confirmed whether the court has entered any of the judgments described below. If it has, we will update this article.

Red flags to watch for

• References the company hands you. Look up the customer's main number yourself and ask for the person by name.
• Financials you can't verify with audited statements.
• Big raises on a fast timeline with pressure to commit before diligence is done.

What to do if you invested

1. Keep every record: account statements, promissory notes, subscription agreements, emails, texts, wire confirmations and screenshots of websites or videos.
2. Report it to the SEC at sec.gov/tcr.
3. Check who you are dealing with. Before investing, search the person and firm on the SEC's Investor.gov adviser search and FINRA's BrokerCheck.
4. Beware of "recovery" offers. People who lost money in investment frauds are often contacted by scammers who promise to recover it for an upfront fee. Government agencies and court-appointed receivers do not charge victims to file claims.

Case status (as of Oct. 12, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 12, 2026	Source
Robert Bernardi	U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. (No. 21-cv-08598)	Consent and proposed final judgment filed Sept. 30, 2026 ($4.7M disgorgement + interest, deemed satisfied by criminal restitution); subject to court approval	[1], [2]
Sunil Chandra	Same	Consent and proposed final judgment filed Sept. 30, 2026 ($50,000 disgorgement + interest, deemed satisfied by criminal restitution); subject to court approval	[1], [3]
Nihat Cardak	Same	Consent and proposed final judgment filed Oct. 16, 2026 ($210,400 disgorgement + $17,231.02 interest, deemed satisfied by criminal restitution); subject to court approval (as of Oct. 20, 2026)	[4]

Statuses can change. An SEC complaint contains allegations, and a settlement without admitting or denying them is not a finding of wrongdoing.

Sources

1. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Litigation Release No. 26661, "SEC Settles Litigation with Former CEO and Vice President of Software Company Charged with Multimillion Dollar Fraud," Sept. 30, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26661
2. Final Judgment and Consent – Robert Bernardi, linked from Litigation Release No. 26661. https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/litreleases/2026/judg26661-bernardi.pdf
3. Final Judgment and Consent – Sunil Chandra, linked from Litigation Release No. 26661. https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/litreleases/2026/judg26661-chandra.pdf
4. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Litigation Release No. 26674, "SEC Settles Litigation with Former CFO of Software Company Charged with Multimillion Dollar Fraud," Oct. 19, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26674

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Corrections and updates: If you are named in this article, or represent someone who is, and believe anything here is inaccurate or out of date (including a dismissal, a court ruling on a proposed judgment, or any other change in case status), please contact us at editorandchief@scammers.com. We will review it and update the article promptly.