SEC Enforcement

SEC Charges Chinese Citizens Over Alleged $29M Insider Trading Tied to Comcast-DreamWorks Acquisition

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

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is charging the partner of a Hong Kong-based private equity firm with securities fraud. The regulator claims that Shaohua (Michael) Yin of Summitview Capital Management Ltd. obtained over $56M of DreamWorks Animation SKG stock by using the US brokerage accounts of five Chinese nationals, including his parents.

When DreamWork’s stock price went up 47.3% after news that Comcast was acquiring it went public, the five accounts made $29M from the DreamWorks trades.

The SEC claims that Yin tried to conceal that he was in charge of the five accounts, which had addresses in Palo Alto and Beijing, but the regulator was still able to identify him as the one behind the suspect trading. Prior to becoming a partner at Summitview Capital, Yin worked for UBS (UBS) and private equity firm Warburg Pincus Asia LLC.

Securities Cases: Broidy Wealth Management Advisors Founder Pleads Guilty to Fraud, Bondholders File Arbitration Claim Against BOK Financial, and SEC Files Complaint in $5M Pyramid Scam

Published on: February 26, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

RIA Misappropriated Over $865K and Withdrew $640K in Excess Fees, Say Prosecutors
Broidy Wealth Advisors CEO Mark Broidy has pleaded guilty to taking $640K in excess management fees from clients and misappropriating over $864K in stock that were in trusts of which he was the trustee. Now, the registered investment advisor must make restitutions to those whom he defrauded. He could end up serving up to five years behind barsamong other penalties.

According to the Justice Department, from around 11/2010 to 7/2016 Broidy billed more than what he was allowed to in compensation, which caused three clients to pay more than $640K in excess fees. He concealed his theft by falsifying those clients’ IRS Form 1099s.

After one client demanded that Broidy pay back the stolen funds the latter allegedly sold over $865K of stock from another client’s trust accounts, which were for that person’s children. Broidy also suggested that several clients invest in startups with which he had deals to pay him part of any money he raised on the companies’ behalf. The clients didn’t know about these arrangements.

SEC Cases: Man Who Claimed to Be Real Estate Manager to Pay over $500K and Fuel Cell Company Executives Face Criminal and Civil Charges Over Investor Fraud

Published on: February 17, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Arizona Man to Pay $500K To Settle SEC Fraud Charges
James P. Toner will pay over $500K to settle charges accusing him of taking investors’ money. The Arizona man claimed to be a real estate manager and allegedly told investors that he would be personally managing three real estate ventures in which they were buying interests. The stated purpose of every investor’s offering was to buy a residential property in the Phoenix area. The property was to be renovated and then sold at a profit.

According to the SEC’s securities fraud complaint, Toner raised at least $915K from 18 investors from mid-’13 through ’14. The investors lost about $682K. Toner is accused of misappropriating about $51K of investor money that he purportedly tried to hide through bank account transfers. (The regulator’s complaint stated that Toner was paid $31K in undisclosed management fees even though he never actually managed the offerings, and that he flat-out stole $20K from an investor.)

Toner also purportedly did not perform any due diligence when he entrusted a real estate broker to manage the investments. This broker was later sent to jail for other crimes.

CFTC Orders Citigroup to Pay $25M for Spoofing, Supervisory Failures

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

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (C) has been ordered to pay $25M penalty by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to settle charges alleging spoofing in US Treasury futures markets. The regulator is also accusing the firm of not doing a diligent enough job of supervising agents and employees that were involved with the spoofing orders, which purportedly took place between 7/16/2011 and 12/31/2012.

Spoofing

Spoofing involves a trader making an offer or bid but with the intention of calling off the bid or offer before it actually goes through. According to the CFTC’s order, through five traders, Citigroup took part in spoofing over 2500 times in different Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) U.S. Treasury futures products. The spoofing strategy purportedly applied involved making offers or bids of at least one thousand lots but with no intention of allowing them to be executed.

SEC Charges Connecticut RIA with $3.95M Fraud, Ex-Morgan Stanley Financial Adviser with $5M Securities Scam

Published on: February 8, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges against Sentinel Growth Fund Management and its owner Mark J. Varacchi. The regulator is accusing the Connecticut-based investment advisory firm of stealing at least $3.95M from investors. Over $1M was allegedly used to resolve private litigation in which Varacchi was the defendant.

According to the Commission, Sentinel Growth Management Fund and Varacchi misrepresented to investors that their money would go to hedge fund managers to be invested. Instead, the investment advisor firm allegedly commingled investor money and manipulated account balances, activities, and investment returns as part of a securities fraud.

Now, the SEC wants disgorgement and penalties brought against Varacchi and his firm in this investment advisor fraud case.

Securities Cases: NY/NJ Port Authority Accused of Not Disclosing Municipal Bond Risks, FINRA Expels Lawson Financial for Fraud, and SEC Brings More FCPA Violation Charges

Published on: January 31, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Port Authority Admits Wrongdoing Related to Failure to Disclose Municipal Bond Risks to Investors

The Port Authority of New Jersey and New York will pay a $400K to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission charges accusing the municipal issuer of knowing about the municipal bond risks involved a number of NJ roadway projects yet failing to tell investors who bought the bonds that would pay for these projects about the risks. The Port Authority admitted wrongdoing.

According to the SEC’s order, the Port Authority sold $2.3B of bonds even though there were questions as to whether certain projects exceeded their mandate and might not be legal to execute. Despite these concerns, the Port Authority did not mention the municipal bond risks in offering these documents.

SEC Cases Seeks to Hold Companies Accountable for FCPA Violations

Already this year, the SEC has brought and/or settled a number of civil cases involving alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Early last month, Biomet, a medical device manufacturer, agreed to pay over $30M to settle parallel Justice Department and SEC probes over purported repeat FCPA violations.

Criminal Cases: Hedge Fund Manager is Sentenced for Bilking Veterans of $1.8M, Charges Brought Over $81M Ponzi Scam Involving Hamilton Tickets, and Indictment in $17M Ponzi Scam is Dropped

Published on: January 30, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Chicago Hedge Fund Manager Gets Over Four Years in $1.8M Fraud
Clayton Cohn is sentenced to more than four years behind bars and he will pay $1.55M in restitution for targeting military veterans in a $1.8M hedge fund fraud. Cohn is an ex-US Marine. He pleaded guilty to the criminal charges against him.

Cohn is accused of pretending to be a successful hedge fund manager to persuade clients to invest with his Marketaction Capital Management. Of the over $1.8M that was invested,he lost more than $1.5M and spent at least $400K on his luxury lifestyle and business investments.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission had brought civil charges against him in 2013 when they accused Cohn of soliciting investors through his Veterans Financial Education Network. The non-profit was supposed to help veterans handle their money. Instead, he diverted some of their funds toward himself. The regulator stayed its case against him following the federal indictments. Now, the civil fraud charges will proceed.

SEC Cases: Citigroup to Pay $18.3M for Overbilling Clients, Strategic Capital Management is Banned Following $1.3M Cherry Picking Scam, & 10 Investment Advisory Firms Settle Pay-to-Play Violation Charges Involving Pension Fund Fees

Published on: January 27, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Citigroup is Accused of Overcharging At Least 60 Investment Advisory Clients
Citigroup Global Markets (C) will pay $18.3M to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission charges accusing the firm of overbilling clients and misplacing client contracts. According to the regulator’s order, at least 60,000 investment advisory clients were overcharged about $18M in unauthorized fees because Citigroup did not confirm the accuracy of the billing rates in its computer systems compared to the fees noted in client contracts and other documents. The firm also purportedly improperly collected fees even when clients suspended their accounts. The SEC says that the billing mistakes took place over a 15-year period.

The regulator also contends that the investment advisory firm has been unable to locate about 83,000 advisory contracts. Their absence made it impossible for Citigroup to correctly validate whether the fees that clients were billed are the same ones that they negotiated.

The SEC believes that affected clients paid Citigroup about $3.2M in excess fees.

Windsor Street Capital Charged in Connection with Pump-and-Dump Scam

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

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed an administrative case against Windsor Street Capital and John D. Telfer, its ex-anti-money laundering officer. The regulator’s enforcement division claims that the New York-based broker dealer did not file Suspicious Activity Reports for $24.8M of suspect transactions, including those connected to an alleged pump-and-dump scam.

The regulator claims that Windsor Street Capital, at the time known as Meyers Associates LP, and Telfer should have been aware of the suspect circumstances involving a lot of these transactions and conducted a probe—in particular, into transactions involving William Goode and Raymond Barton. These men are microcap stock financiers accused of running a multi-million dollar pump-and=dump scam.

The SEC has filed separate charges against them, as well as against Kenneth Manzo, Matthew Briggs, and Justin Sindelman. The five of them are accused of acquiring shares of dormant shell companies that were supposed to be part of the dietary supplement industry, falsely marketing products and news related to the company, and then dumping the shares onto the market for investors to buy at inflated rates.

SEC Issues $7M Whistleblower Award

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

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is awarding $7M, to be split between the three whistleblowers who helped the regulator go after an investment scam. This latest whistleblower award, the second issued this year, ups the collective total that the SEC has granted to 41 whistleblowers to $149M.

Of the $7M, about $4M will go to the whistleblower who gave the SEC information that helped start the regulator’s investigation. The other two whistleblowers, who provided additional new information during the probe, will split the $3M.

To date, SEC enforcement actions resulting from whistleblower tips have led to over $935M in financial remedies. Whistleblowers who provide the tips that lead to successful enforcement actions resulting in at least a $1M remedy are eligible to receive 10-30% of the money collected. Because the SEC is committed to protecting the identity and confidentiality of whistleblowers, details from these enforcement cases that could reveal their identities are kept confidential.