The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging former VP of The Shaw Group’s construction operations Scott Zeringue and his brother-in-law Jesse Roberts III with insider trading. Zeringue has already agreed to settle the regulator’s charges by consenting to pay disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus a penalty.
The SEC says that the insider trading took place in 2012 when Zeringue, while working at The Shaw Group, became privy to confidential data about the company’s upcoming acquisition by Chicago Bridge & Iron Company. Prior to the announcement of the deal, he bought 125 shares of Shaw stock and asked Roberts to buy for him, too. Roberts went on to tip others and they collectively made close to $1 million in illicit profits.
Meantime, parallel criminal charges have been filed against Roberts. Zeringue has already pleaded guilty to the criminal charges against him.
In another SEC case, the regulator is charging VCAP Securities and its CEO Brett Thomas Graham with improperly arranging for a third party brokerage firm to secretly bid at certain auctions that they conducted for their affiliated investment adviser. The auctions were for liquidating collateralized debt obligations. The brokerage firm was supposed to help them acquire bonds to benefit certain funds.
However, engagement deals with CDO trustees did not allow VCAP and its affiliates to bid while also acting as auction liquidation agent. Because the brokerage firm had access to confidential data regarding bidding, Graham was able to make sure that the third-party firm won the bonds at prices just a little higher than what other bidders made. The affiliate investment adviser would then buy the bonds from the bidder right away.
The Commission said that Graham and the firm made material misrepresentations to the different CDO trustees. They also falsely represented that they would not bid in auctions or wrongly use confidential bidding data. Trustees were given documents that failed to disclose that the affiliate investment adviser was the winning bidder. As a result, the investment adviser was able to get 23 bonds. VCAP and Graham will pay close to $1.5 million to settle SEC charges.
In federal court, the SEC announced an emergency asset freeze and fraud charges against a Colorado-based Ponzi and pyramid scam that promised 700% returns. The scheme purportedly raised $3.8 milion from investors in less than a year.
According to the Commission, Kristine L. Johnson and Troy A. Barnes touted what they called a “3-D matrix “and “triple algorithm.” They got investors to purchase positions in Work With Troy Barnes Incorporated. Web promotions and internet videos were used to solicit participants.
The two reportedly claimed their program wasn’t a pyramid scam, yet the company did not have legitimate business operations. Instead, earlier investors were paid “returns,” which was really money from newer investors. Barnes and Johnson would take money out for their own spending.
SEC Halts Colorado-Based Pyramid Scheme (PDF)
The SEC Order Alleging CDO-Liquidation-Related Fraud (PDF)
The SEC Complaint in the Louisiana Insider Trading Case (PDF)
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