Court Enters Final Judgment in Fraud Case Against North Carolina Man and His Companies

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina has entered final judgment against Dharma Teja Nukarapu, of North Carolina and two companies under his control—SharkDreams, Inc. and D Dollar Inc.—for their involvement in a fraudulent offering scheme. The final judgment includes a series of penalties and prohibitions. 

The case, brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in November 2023, alleged that SharkDreams, which claimed to be a healthcare software development firm, and its CEO Nukarapu solicited approximately $2.7 million from more than 20 investors through securities offerings between January 2018 and November 2019.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Nukarapu and SharkDreams made false and deceptive claims to investors, including assertions that earlier investors had doubled their investments within a year, SharkDreams was valued at $7 million to $30 million, and the company had customer orders and an impending capital infusion from a large investor. None of these claims were true, as alleged in the complaint.

The SEC also alleged misconduct involving D Dollar, a separate company owned by Nukarapu. Between 2019 and 2020, the company raised $650,000 from investors under the pretense that the funds would be used for a purported D Dollar subsidiary. However, nearly $595,000 of the investment proceeds were allegedly misappropriated by Nukarapu for SharkDreams’ operations and his personal use.