The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is accusing a Cedar Hill man of targeting churchgoers in a digital currency investment scam that totaled at least $1.1 million.

In a complaint filed Monday in federal court in Dallas, the SEC described Clifton Curtis Sneed Jr. as a “recidivist securities law violator” and said he portrayed himself as an investment expert from 2014 through 2019 while hiding his lengthy record of securities violations.

Sneed lied to clients about his financial certifications and failed to disclose that he was receiving commissions from the companies that he recommended to clients, according to the SEC. The complaint said clients lost about $1.1 million while Sneed pocketed at least $400,000 in commissions.

Now incarcerated at a low-security federal corrections institution in Seagoville, Sneed is awaiting criminal trial over related wire and securities fraud charges.

In examples cited by the SEC, Sneed defrauded “numerous” clients, including a