SEC Enforcement

SEC Cases: NY Lawyer Accused of Shell Company Stock Fraud, Research Scientist is Charged with Insider Trading, Officer in Pyramid Scam That Targeted Latinos Must Pay Disgorgement, and Two Men Are Accused of Price Rigging

Published on: July 25, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Lawyer Barred Over Fraud Allegations
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has barred David Lubin, a New York-based lawyer, from practicing or appearing before the regulator and acting as any company’s director or officer. The regulator is accusing him of making misleading and false statements in corporate filings and committing fraud while he was the attorney and director of Entertainment Art. He was also the public company’s biggest shareholder.

According to the SEC’s securities order, not only did Lubin draft and sign misleading public filings, but also, he concealed their “true ownership” as well as that the fact that a significant chunk of the shares were of a “restricted nature.”

As a result, after Entertainment Art’s name was changed to Biozoom, over 14 million shares were resold illegally in an unregistered distribution, rendering $34M of illicit profits. At the time, the shares had belonged to a shell investor.

Investment Fraud: Retired NBA Star’s Ex-Financial Adviser is Barred by the SEC, Former Investment Adviser Pleads Guilty in $1.1M Scam, Convicted Broker is Sentenced to 18 Months, and One-Time Pastor Must Pay Back Over $1M to Victims

Published on: July 14, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-Adviser of Retired NBA Player Tim Duncan is Barred from the Industry

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has gotten a judgment barring former financial adviser Charles A. Banks IV from the securities industry. Banks, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud that involved bilking ex-NBA player Tim Duncan, was sentenced to 48 months in prison in criminal court and ordered to pay $7.5M in restitution.

Now, because he committed investment fraud, Banks is also banned from the industry, as well as prohibited from serving as a director or an officer of any public company. Banks also must pay a penalty, disgorgement, and pre-judgment interest.

14 People Charged In $14.7M Stock Rigging Fraud That Bilked Senior Investors

Published on: July 13, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to prosecutors, criminal charges have been brought against 14 people over their alleged involvement in a $14.7M stock rigging investment scam that primarily targeted older investors. The US Attorney’s office alleges that between 1/2014 and 1/2017 the defendants and others sought to defraud the investors and prospective investors of certain companies by attempting to artificially manipulate the volume and price when shares were traded.

The group allegedly hid that they were behind the stock rigging fraud of these companies’ shares through a pump-and-dump boiler room scam. They are accused of manipulating share trading patterns while aggressively soliciting senior citizens by phone to try and persuade them to buy the shares.

When their targets showed a willingness to buy the stock being solicited to them, the boiler room employees would allegedly pressure them to buy, sometimes even charging them subscriptions so that they could receive future stock recommendations. Investors were not notified that the employees and others they conspired with had sold their own shares in these companies.
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SEC Cases: Real Estate Agent Accused in Ponzi Scam, Oil Company Charged in $2.4M Offering Fraud, and NY Private Equity Fund Adviser Resolves Negligence Claims

Published on: July 5, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Oil Well Company and Founders Accused In $2.4M Offering Fraud
The SEC has filed offering fraud-related charges against Kentucky-Tennessee 50 Wells/400 BBLPD Block, Limited Partnership, its founders, and three members of its sales team over a $2.4M offering fraud. According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s complaint, the oil well company fraudulently offered and sold unregistered securities to investors through a boiler room operation. They raised about $2.4M from 41 investors.

Carol J. Wayland and her son John C. Mueller founded K-T 50 Wells. They are accused of misappropriating investor funds for purposes not disclosed in the private placement memorandum, including taking more than $871K for their own expenses and making Ponzi payments to some investors.

Real Estate Agent Allegedly Sold Unregistered Securities as Part of Brother’s Ponzi Scam
Cheryl L. Jones is accused of defrauding investors by helping her brother, Mark Jones, recruit investors for his Ponzi scam. The Commission contends that Jones brought in associates and friends to buy unregistered promissory notes and personal guarantees that her brother was involved in.

SEC Accuses Ex-COO of Penny Stock Fraud

Published on: June 29, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has brought penny stock fraud charges against Diana P. Lovera, the ex-COO of Oxford City Football Club, Inc. Lovera faced criminal charges in a parallel case and she has already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.

According to the SEC’s Complaint, from about 7/2013 to 7/2015, Lovera and others at the penny stock company used a boiler room and exercised pressure tactics to raise about $6.6M from over 150 investors. They sold millions of unregistered Oxford City stock shares. Many of the investors involved were unaccredited.

The regulator is accusing Lovera of making misstatements about Oxford City’s assets, potential for profit, business plan, and management composition. She also allegedly falsely told potential investors that they could “lock in” a reduced share price by using Oxford City’s voice verification “system.” She touted the system as having the ability to link the personal information of investors to an SEC filing.

SEC Cases: Oil and Gas Company is Charged With Accounting Fraud, Utah-Based Broker-Dealer is Accused of Not Complying With Anti-Money Laundering Laws, and Hemp Oil Company Allegedly Inflated Assets

Published on: June 28, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Penn West Petroleum is Accused of Accounting Fraud

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Penn West Petroleum Ltd., now called Obsidian Energy Ltd., and three of its ex-finance executives with involvement in an alleged accounting fraud. According to the regulator, the Canadian-based oil and gas company fraudulently transferred hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses to capital expenditure accounts from its operating expense accounts. As a result, Penn West was able to artificially lower operating expenses by up to 20% during some periods, as well as falsely enhance the metrics having to do with profitability and oil extraction efficiency. These metrics are important for selling barrels of oil.

The SEC is accusing ex-Penn West CFO Todd Takeyasu, ex-VP of Accounting and Reporting Jeffery Curan, and ex-Operations Controller Waldermar Grab of running the accounting fraud. The regulator claims that the three men violated federal securities laws related to antifraud, books and records, reporting, and internal controls provisions.

Investor Fraud: Massachusetts Adviser Sentenced in Cherry Picking Scam, Jury Convicts Indiana Man Accused of Bilking 22 Clients, Lawyer Accused of Bilking EB-5 Immigrant Program Investors, and Fake Fund Manager Will Go to Prison

Published on: June 23, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Investment Advisory Firm Founder Gets 2-Year Prison Term, Will Pay $1.3M for Fraud
Michael J. Breton, a Massachusetts investment adviser, has been sentenced to two years behind bars for running a cherry picking scam that allowed him to bilk clients. Breton, the founder of Strategic Capital Management, admitted to keeping profitable trades for himself while making unprofitable ones for customers. Breton has been ordered to pay them $1.3M in restitution.

The cherry picking scheme went on for six years, bilking 30 investors. According to regulators and prosecutors, when certain companies were slated to announce earnings announcements, Breton would purchase securities through a master account or via block trading. When the earnings news would raise a stock’s price, Breton would keep the trades. When an earnings announcement would cause a stock’s price to go down,
he would disburse these trades to clients.

Jury Convicts Indiana Investment Advisor of Securities Fraud
This week in Pittsburgh, a jury convicted Bernard Parker of mail fraud, securities fraud, and of filing false tax returns. Parker, who was the principal of Parker Financial Services, is accused of bilking 22 clients of over $1.2M and falsifying his US tax returns by not including over $790K in income.

Market Rigging: NJ Stock Promoters Face SEC Charges, Another Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges, and Engineer is Accused of Manipulating Fitbit’s Stock

Published on: June 21, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Stock Promoters Accused in Pump-and-Dump Scam
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges against James M. Farinella, his Integrated Capital Partners Inc., Anthony Amado, and his Equity Awareness Group with fraud over the alleged inflation and manipulation of a microcap company’s share price. As a result of the alleged pump-and-dump scam, the fraud made over $1M.

According to the regulator, Farinella and his consulting firm controlled almost the whole public float of stock in Pazoo Inc. Farinella paid Amado’s company to promote the microcap issuer and take part in matched trading to make it appear as if there was market activity for the stock. Amado and one of his employees, Carlo Palomino, are accused of enacting the scam, which allowed Farinella to make over $1M when dumping the Pazoo shares.

New Jersey prosecutors have filed criminal charges against Farinella over the microcap fraud allegations.

US Supreme Court Restricts SEC’s Ability to Recover Monies Made from Illegal Conduct

Published on: June 10, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In Kokesh v. SEC, the US Supreme Court has restricted the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s ability to pursue disgorgement after five years have passed since the fraud alleged led to illegal profits. In a unanimous decision, the nation’s highest court said that that the five-year statute of limitations must be followed.

The securities fraud lawsuit was brought by Charles Kokesh, who was convicted for misappropriating funds from four investment companies that he controlled and using the money to support his expensive lifestyle. In 2015, a judge ordered Kokesh to pay a $2.4M civil penalty.

Additionally, because the SEC considered disgorgement to have no statute of limitations, the judge also ordered the businessman to pay $35M. This is how much he was calculated to have illegally made starting from when he began engaging in his illegal conduct, from 1995 to 2009.
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Financial Representative Misconduct: Rep. Who Didn’t Disclose $100M in EB-5 Investment Sales is Barred From Securities Industry, Ex-Stifel, Nicolaus Broker is Suspended & Fined For Variable Annuity Violations, and Former Advisor is In Trouble Over Alleged Breaches Involving Senior Investors Accounts

Published on: June 7, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Former Stifel, Nicolaus Broker is Accused of Variable Annuity Violations
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has suspended an ex-Stifel, Nicolaus (SF) broker for four months over variable annuity transactions that he purportedly inappropriately recommended to certain investors. At the time of the alleged variable annuity fraud, James Keith Cox worked with Sterne, Agee & Leach. Stifel Financial later acquired that firm.

According to the regulator, Cox recommended a number of VA transactions even though there was no reasonable grounds for thinking they were appropriate for the investors. In addition to the suspension, Cox will disgorge the $25,460 he was paid in commissions.

FINRA Bars California Man From Industry Over $100M in Undisclosed EB-5 Investment Sales
A FINRA hearing panels has barred a California-based registered representative for taking part in private securities transactions involving $100M in EB-5 Investments that he failed to disclose to his employer financial firm. Jim Seol sold the EB-5 investments through his business Western Regional Center Incorporated.