As far as the fraud - while it may seem clear cut, the operator (Ethan Burnside) of the exchange that listed bASIC mining was fined by the SEC and barred from trading but they apparently didn't dig any deeper since nobody else was sanctioned over this. If Burnside took any personal information from the guys who listed their companies, why weren't they also sanctioned?
Most investigating authorities have limited resources so they tend to go for the big fish or low hanging fruit first and work their way onto the others.
I suspect the biggest fish at Havelock were operating out of china so no point in the SEC wasting resources to go after them.
bASIC mining only had a few hundred bitcoins at the time the rest was in Litecoin and Mining gear so not really much to go after. I can't remember the exact number of BTC but I think it was around 1200 BTC, that would have only a been a few hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment and coins all up.
My own gut feeling is that the SEC probably thought it wasn't worth their time and there wasn't much evidence that a fraud had taken place.
I think the game has changed now that BTC has risen so much in value and the SEC has issued clear guidance on ICOs. It wouldn't surprise me if they have put together a task force ready to start slamming ICO scammers.
From what I can tell, there may be a statute of limitations of about 4 years for financial fraud related crimes so we may still be able to get Eric/Brett.
I think it pretty safe to say that nobody is getting their money back, but I woudn't mind a bit of Justice for that thieving prick.
By the way, some of the other guys doing a similar thing to Eric have been busted by the SEC so they may already be investigating him.
http://thehackernews.com/2017/06/bitcoin-mining-ponzi-scheme.htmland they did manage to bust Ken Slaughter who ran ActiveMining which was also listed on Havelock and BTC-TC
https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/missouri-man-fined-30k-plus-disgorgement-for-selling-stakes-in-mining-earnings/I managed to get Kenny Boy crossed off my list, now I just need to see Eric/Brett get his dues.