The US Securities and Exchange Commission is ordering Wells Fargo & Co.’s (WFC) wealth management unit to pay $3.5M for alleged anti-money laundering reporting violations. Wells Fargo Advisors agreed to pay the penalty. It is settling the charges but without denying or admitting to the regulator’s findings. According to the…
In a subpoena enforcement action, the US Securities and Exchange Commission is ordering 235 LLCs in Colorado and Delaware to provide documents related to its probe into whether Woodbridge Group of Companies, LLC, a California-based real estate and investment company owned and run by its president Robert Shapiro, engaged in…
Wedbush Securities Accused of Failing to Oversee Owner, Who May Have Cherry Picked Investments The NYSE Regulation has filed a disciplinary case against Wedbush Securities Inc. accusing the firm of not properly overseeing the trading activities of firm owner and principal Edward Wedbush. According to the complaint, Mr. Wedbush, “actively”…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges against John Rogicki. The New York-based financial adviser, who is the chief compliance officer and managing director of Train, Babcock Advisors, LLC, is accused of defrauding a non-profit charitable foundation of $9M. The founder of the Foundation had named Rogicki,…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges against Rio Tinto and its ex-CFO Guy Robert Elliot and former CEO Thomas Albanese. The defendants are accused of hiding the Mozambique coal business’ swift and steep drop in value soon after they acquired it for $3.7B. The mining company…
A federal jury in Boston has found Howard Present, the ex-CEO of F-Squared Investments Inc., liable in the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s civil lawsuit alleging exchange-traded fund fraud. The ruling determined that Present was in violation of the Investment Advisers Act. According to the regulator, Present sought to defraud…
Latest Whistleblower Award Raises Total Granted to $162M The US Securities and Exchange Commission has awarded a whistleblower over $1M for providing “new information and substantial corroborating documentation” that allowed the regulator to bring a successful enforcement action. The securities violation involved a registered entity and had affected retail investors.…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against investment adviser Tarek D. Bahgat for allegedly stealing $378K from clients. Bahgat is accused of misappropriating funds from seven investment advisory clients, most of whom were elderly investors. According to the regulator, from December 2014 through September 2016, Bahgat, using…
Leonard Vincent Lombardo, a former broker once employed at Stratton Oakmont, is now charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, along with his company and business partner, with involvement in an alleged real estate investment scam that defrauded over 100 investors, including retirees, of $6M. Lombardo, his firm The…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against Michael Scronic, a New York-based investment adviser accused of defrauding retail investors in a $19M Ponzi scam. According to the regulator, beginning in 2010, Scronic raised funds from 42 friends and acquaintances for a “risky options trading strategy” involving…