The New York Attorney General’s Office says it has reached a $6.5 million settlement agreement with former UBS AG co-general counsel David Aufhauser over insider trading charges. Aufhauser is also a former general counsel for the Treasury Department. In the complaint, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo accused Aufhauser of selling his…
Judge Sidney H. Stein of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has dropped the securities fraud violation charges against three ex-traders. The nolle prosequi orders conclude the Justice Department’s probe, began in 2005, against 15 New York Stock Exchange specialists for securities fraud violations. Stein set…
The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth has filed securities fraud-related charges against Merrill Lynch for allegedly promoting the sale of auction rate securities while providing misleading information about market stability. According to Secretary William Galvin, Merrill Lynch aggressively sold ARS to investors while telling research analysts to downplay market risks…
Scottrade Inc. agreed to pay a $950,000 civil penalty to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it made fraudulent misrepresentations to clients related to the execution of Nasdaq pre-open orders. The brokerage firm is not admitting to or denying wrongdoing by settling the charges. Scottrade is, however, agreeing to…
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has ordered a Connecticut man to pay $58,825 in civil penalties, prejudgment interest, and disgorgement to settle charges he engaged in a scheme to take part in unauthorized securities trades, which caused prices to rise dramatically. The Securities and…
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District has dismissed a securities fraud lawsuit filed by investor Nicholas Vale against ex-Merrill Lynch Internet Group head Henry Blodget on the grounds that Vale failed to factually show how the defendant’s fraud caused his investment losses. In his lawsuit, Vale accused Blodget…
In New York, a judge has dismissed the securities fraud case against former Merrill Lynch research analyst Henry Blodget. The former lead Internet analyst of the company’s Internet Group is accused of allegedly issuing false reports regarding CMGI Inc. stock. In 2007, investor Ronald Ventura had filed a securities fraud…
REIT Manager W.P. Carey & Co has reached a $30M settlement agreement with the SEC over antifraud charges. According to the SEC, W.P. Carey, its ex-CFO John J. Park, and its former chief accounting officer Claude Fernandez paid $10 million in undisclosed compensation to a brokerage firm that sold real…
Wood Rivers Partners LP Founder John Whittier has been ordered to serve 36 months in federal prison. The former hedge fund manager pled guilty to charges that he defrauded investors of about $88 million over a two-year-period. Whittier admitted to deceiving investor clients and making them think that he would…
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has sentenced former Morgan Stanley Associate Randi Collotta and her husband, an attorney, to home confinement and ordered them to pay more than $10,000 in fines, plus a forfeiture, for their alleged roles in a large insider trading scheme…