Bentonville man ordered to stop selling securities.

The owner of a Bentonville "construction and investment firm" that promised "no risk" returns as high as 50 percent in eight months has been ordered to stop selling investment and securities products in Arkansas.

Heath Abshure, the newly appointed commissioner of the Arkansas Securities Department, issued the cease-and-desist order against Dennis Vinciguerra and his company, known as D-Val LLC and D-Val Construction & Real Estate Investments. According to the order, D-Val's Web site offered at least six different investment options. One of them promised a monthly return of at least 10 percent on money placed in a D-Val savings account in a minor child's name while another promised a "no risk" return of $20,000 on a $40,000 investment held for 240 days. Other options included investing in buildings and new businesses.

Neither Vinciguerra nor D-Val is registered to sell securities in Arkansas, according to Abshure's order. Despite warnings from the department, Vinciguerra continued to offer the investments through the D-Val Web site, though a disclaimer was added stating "D-Val is not regulated by the Arkansas Securities Department."

The Web site, www.dvalconstruction.com, was still advertising investment options on Thursday morning, but the only phone numbers listed were no longer in service. The Web site lists Fayetteville attorney D.E. "Jake" Davis as general counsel for D-Val, but Davis told Arkansas Business that he hadn't done any work for Vinciguerra in at least 18 months.

Asked if D-Val was offering investment products while he was working for the company, Davis said, "I can't speak about that."

The Web site also claims that D-Val is a licensed residential contractor, but the Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board invalidated that license on Nov. 21 because Vinciguerra failed to submit required paperwork concerning workers' compensation insurance.