Jon Horvath, an ex-research analyst at a New York hedge fund, has pled guilty to two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud related to a $61.8 million insider trading scheme. Several other former hedge fund managers and analysts from different investment firms and…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has reached a settlement with three men accused of trading on insider information about the acquisition between Mercer Insurance Group Inc. and United Fire & Casualty Co. (UFCS), with the latter to obtain the former. Per the SEC, in or around June 2010, Mercer Insurance…
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District has issued an order giving Irving Picard, the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC liquidation trustee, permission to issue a second interim distribution to the victims of the Madoff Ponzi scam. Picard had asked to add $5.5 billion to the customer fund…
In SEC v. Moshayedi, the Securities and Commission is suing the Chairman and CEO of computer device storage company STEC Inc. (STEC) for insider trading. Manouchehr Moshayedi allegedly traded in his company stock’s secondary offering because he had insider knowledge that there was a decline in the demand for an…
For the third time, billionaire Mark Cuban is asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to reconsider a previous ruling denying his motion to make the Securities and Exchange Commission provide summaries and interview notes related to its probe into his alleged insider trading activities. Cuban…
In the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Judge James R. Nowlin entered summary judgment against Marleen and John Jantzen. In SEC v. Jansen, the Securities and Exchange Commission had charged the couple with Texas securities fraud for using insider information about Dell Inc. to buy Perot…
The U.S. Sentencing Commission is welcoming public comment on amendments that have been proposed to its sentencing guidelines, which would ramp up the offense level for certain insider trading cases. Also, there are other proposals, related to amendments to the guidelines that get specific about determining loss in fraud cases,…
Two days after the US Senate votes 92 to 2 to take up a measure that would ban Congressional members from engaging in insider trading, the legislation has passed by a 96 to 3 vote. The bill, which bars members of Congress from using confidential information obtained as a result…
Criminal charges have been filed against seven men over their alleged involvement in a $78 million insider trading scam. More arrests stemming from “Operation Perfect Hedge,” conducted by the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are likely. US Attorney for the Southern District of New York…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed Texas securities fraud charges against Life Partners Holdings Inc. and three of the company’s senior executives over their alleged involvement in a life settlement scam. Life Partners, which is a Nasdaq-traded company, makes nearly all of its revenue from the life settlements it…