The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is barring a number of market participants from the penny stock industry for their involvement in a number of purportedly fake initial public offerings of microcap stocks. The regulator says that investors were bilked because of these schemes. Among those barred is Newport Beach,…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said that it has awarded a whistleblower over $900K for a tip that allowed the regulator to bring multiple enforcement actions. The regulator announced the award just a days after it awarded another whistleblower $3.5M, also for coming forward with information resulting in an…
Two US regulators have fined Morgan Stanley (MS) for margin account violations that purportedly resulted in the firm using customer funds and securities for its benefit. The US Securities and Exchange Commission fined the firm $7.5M, while the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority imposed a $2.75M fine. According to the SEC,…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed securities fraud charges against Naris Chamroonrat of Thailand and American Adam L Plumer. The regulator contends that the two men ran a fake day-trading that collectively defrauded hundreds of investors in over 30 nations of over $1.4M. At least 180 of the…
Ex-Financial Adviser Who Worked for Texas-Based Firm is Barred by SEC After Defrauding Pro Athletes Ash Narayan, an ex-California financial adviser, has been barred by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Narayan, who is accused of secretly receiving almost $2M from companies that he invested in on behalf of his…
Deutsche Bank AG (DB) has agreed to pay $37M to conclude the US government probes into its handling of trades in dark pool trading venues. The German bank also admitted that between 1/2012 and 2/2014 traders were misled about the way the it ranked its SuperX dark pool and other…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed promissory note fraud charges against Onix Capital and it owner Albert Chang-Rajii. The Miami-based asset management company and Chang are accused of bilking investors who put their money into promissory notes and start-ups, as well as of falsely portraying the Chilean national…
Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) has agreed to settle the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s charges accusing the firm of misleading investors about the performance of one of its exchange-traded funds and not placing an accurate value on certain fund securities. As part of the settlement, PIMCO will pay almost…
Goldman Sachs and Reno, NV Settle Securities Fraud Case According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, the city of Reno is about to settle its securities fraud lawsuit against Goldman Sachs (GS) for $750K. Nevada’s capital city claims that the firm misled it into taking on risky debt that nearly caused Reno to…
Minnesota-Based Investment Adviser Gets Six-Year Jail Term According to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Levi David Lindemann was ordered to serve a 74-month prison sentence—that’s six years—for bilking clients in a Ponzi scam. Lindemann owned Gershwin Financial, which did business using the name Alternative Wealth Solutions. He pleaded guilty to…