81 articles tagged with "SEC Enforcement"
Investment fraud costs American investors more than $10 billion annually. Here's how the major fraud types work, what investigators look for, and how to evaluate any investment before you commit.
Insider trading prosecutions have produced some of the most dramatic white-collar criminal cases of the past three decades. Here's how it actually works, the legal definition, the three main case types, how the SEC detects it, and what prosecutors have to prove.
Since 2010, the SEC has paid more than $1.3 billion to whistleblowers who provided tips leading to successful enforcement actions. Here's how the program works, who qualifies, and what the process actually looks like.
Every Ponzi scheme ends the same way. The mechanics are well-documented, the collapse triggers are predictable, and the damage to victims, especially those who got in late, is usually catastrophic.
James Nathan Grimes and Dennis Watts were charged by the SEC for fraudulent pay telephone scams, resulting in $550,710 in penalties and permanent injunctions.
Robert A. Kasirer was permanently enjoined and ordered to pay over $4.9 million for orchestrating municipal revenue bond offering fraud in violation of securities laws.
Former New Jersey political figure Gary B. Taffet settled SEC insider trading charges, paying $402,739 in disgorgement, interest, and civil penalties.
Aaron B. Fletcher and Twin Spires Financial LLC penalized $200,000 for fraudulent municipal bond offerings and failure to register as a municipal advisor.
Garfield M. Taylor and Jeffrey A. King orchestrated a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme through Garfield Taylor, Inc., resulting in $27.9M in penalties.
Claude W. Savage was involved in International Heritage, Inc.'s pyramid scheme that defrauded investors, resulting in a $1.4M penalty for securities violations.
Former broker Dennis Herula was arrested by the SEC for orchestrating a $40 million fraudulent investment scheme, with criminal charges filed in Colorado.
David B. Lobel, former officer of The AppleTree Companies, faced SEC action for material misrepresentations in 1992 securities offering, resulting in $600K penalty.
Victor L. Ziller faced securities fraud charges in the Platforms Wireless International Corp. case, resulting in a $125,000 penalty in California.
Pratima Rajan was charged in an SEC insider trading case involving Arjun Sekhri and others that generated $1.8 million in illicit profits, settling for $648,201.
Jerome E. Rosen and nine others charged in SEC lawsuit for manipulating Systems of Excellence, Inc. stock, defrauding investors of nearly $15 million.
David Syre settled SEC charges related to financial reporting fraud at Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co., paying $61,508 in penalties and accepting injunctions.
Roger Kao (a/k/a Chao Chun Kao) was involved in a $30.8M insider trading and financial fraud scheme at Syntax-Brillian Corporation alongside CEO James Li.
Robert S. Agriogianis was involved in a Chinese reverse merger scheme that manipulated stock trading, resulting in $2.8M in penalties and settlements.
Walter Ng, Kelly Ng, and Bruce Horwitz settled SEC fraud charges for misusing Mortgage Fund '08 LLC assets, resulting in $5.2M in penalties and industry bans.
Artur Khachatryan settled SEC charges for conducting a manipulative spoofing scheme in securities trading, paying $373,885 in disgorgement and penalties.
David Plate and Schottenfeld Group LLC settled SEC insider trading charges for $1.2 million, including disgorgement, interest, and civil penalties.
Thomas F. Goodman and co-defendants were found liable for $7.4M in a fraudulent securities offering involving false promises of extraordinary returns.
Yao Lin and CKB168 Holdings Ltd. were ordered to pay over $220 million in a final judgment for operating an international pyramid scheme targeting investors.
Ryan Petersen, former OCZ Technology executive, faced SEC charges for accounting fraud and disclosure failures, resulting in a $130,000 penalty and ongoing litigation.
Warren J. Soloski involved in SEC case concerning fraudulent bribery scheme and false statements to distribute Pay Pop, Inc. shares. Penalty: $386,997.
Edward O'Donnell and Victor Bozzo, former Pareteum executives, faced SEC enforcement resulting in $225,000 in penalties for orchestrating a revenue recognition scheme.
Stafford Y.L. Mew and four co-defendants sentenced in Western District of Washington for $10 million prime-bank fraud scheme involving wire fraud and money laundering.
Steven Brewer was permanently enjoined in the World Vision Entertainment Ponzi scheme case, with SEC ordering $5.2M in disgorgement and penalties.
John K. Bradley settled SEC accounting fraud charges related to Physician Computer Network, Inc., agreeing to a $75,000 penalty and permanent injunction.
Kevyn Rakowski, former Wilmington Trust officer, paid $70,367 for fraudulently excluding past due real estate loans from financial reports in Delaware.
Hung Chin received a $4.1M penalty for fraudulently trading on hacked nonpublic information from New York law firms, generating nearly $3M in illegal profits.
Jerome L. Wilson paid $300,667 to settle SEC charges in a Connecticut state pension fund investment fraud scheme orchestrated by former state Treasurer Paul J. Silvester.
James S. Eberhart fraudulently sold $2.3 million in unregistered securities through Debisys, Inc., resulting in SEC permanent injunction and $76,102 penalty.
Owen R. Fox and Bruce Franklin face SEC civil contempt motion for failing to pay $7.9M in disgorgement after securities law violations involving fraud.
Robert R. Parrish and co-conspirators operated a Ponzi scheme involving fraudulent ATM investment contracts and unregistered securities, resulting in $212,077 penalty.
Russell Kersh, former Sunbeam Corporation executive, paid $500,000 and received a permanent ban from serving as officer or director for accounting fraud.
Barry Liss and Carol J. Wayland faced SEC action for oil well offering fraud involving unregistered securities and investor fund misappropriation totaling $464,665.
Robert Walton, Jr., former President of Hadsell Chemical Processing, LLC, ordered to pay over $1 million for misrepresenting facts to investors and failing to register securities.
Mark Alan Lisser was permanently enjoined and ordered to pay $961,440 for operating a boiler room scheme through Knightsbridge Capital Partners.
Farhang Afsarpour received a $386,671 penalty in an SEC insider trading case alongside Sasan Sabrdaran, who also faced an officer and director bar.
Louis Peter Goff and co-conspirators orchestrated a fraudulent high-yield Forex trading program through Utah fund managers, resulting in $2.1M in losses.
Leslie A. Arouh was ordered to pay a $110,000 civil penalty by the SEC for violating antifraud provisions in connection with an adjusted trading scheme involving corporate bonds.
Loretta Antrim involved in fraudulent ostrich breeding investment scheme that raised over $819,000 from investors through deceptive investment contracts.
Steven Craig Lusardi, former Restoration Hardware VP, and three associates charged in insider trading scheme generating over $900K in illegal profits.
Bradley Hamilton misled clients about pension transfers and concealed conflicts of interest at Devere USA, Inc., resulting in a $265,000 penalty from the SEC.
Yatin D. Mody, former Vitesse Semiconductor executive, faced SEC charges for revenue recognition fraud and options backdating schemes totaling $3.0M.
Former New York CPA Stephen Durland settled SEC charges for his role in a $112 million pump-and-dump scheme, agreeing to pay $230,464 and accept a penny-stock bar.
Susann Ashley Cargnino and three others defrauded investors of over $7 million in a Michigan medical device scam, resulting in $17M+ in penalties.
Steven Enrico Lopez, Sr. faced securities fraud charges in the Central District of California, resulting in over $1.1 million in disgorgement and penalties.
Brian Fettner illegally profited over $250,000 by trading G&K Services stock using confidential information obtained from a friend, leading to SEC charges.
Gerald P. Alexander and his companies CJB Consulting and Regis Filia Holdings faced $2.4M in penalties for unregistered securities sales and broker violations.
Steven R. Eagleburger, former FLIR Systems executive, paid $110,000 to settle SEC charges of accounting fraud and inflating earnings in 1998-1999.
Frederick Harris and co-defendants orchestrated a $75 million prime bank fraud scheme. The SEC obtained summary judgment, imposing permanent injunctions and penalties.
Neil Dolinsky, former Zomax officer, faced SEC insider trading charges resulting in a $2 million penalty. The case involved financial reporting fraud.
Philip R. Jacoby Jr. and three other Osiris Therapeutics executives faced SEC charges for accounting fraud that overstated performance, resulting in a $1.5M settlement.
Betty Ann Rubin implicated in SEC settlement involving $763,678 disgorgement for Ponzi-like scheme operating through oil and gas limited partnerships.
Shane Schmidt and four entities ordered to pay over $12 million in SEC penalties for COVID-19-related microcap fraud scheme in Gomes et al. case.
Kim J. Brown faced SEC action for orchestrating fraudulent stock sales and acting as an unregistered broker, resulting in $110,000 in penalties and injunctions.
Robert A. McDonald faced SEC action for role in $135 million payphone investment Ponzi scheme through Alpha Telcom, resulting in $3.8M penalty and injunction.
Michael Lauer was ordered to pay over $62 million in disgorgement plus a $500,000 civil penalty for securities fraud and disclosure fraud violations.
George Chachas faced SEC action in the Cavanagh case for manipulating Electro Optical Systems stock, part of a scheme that generated over $12 million in illegal profits.
Lewis Allen Rivlin was found liable for securities fraud involving a fraudulent high-yield bank debenture trading program and ordered to pay over $6.5 million.
Douglas A. Parigian was involved in an insider trading scheme with amateur golfers targeting American Superconductor Corporation, settling for $51,460.
James Rudolph was charged by the SEC with insider trading related to Tallgrass Energy LP, resulting in penalties totaling $801,742 and permanent injunctions.
Larry A. Stockett orchestrated a fraudulent scheme involving Hightec, Inc. and The S.I.N.C.L.A.R.E. Group, Inc., resulting in $1.8M in penalties and injunction.
Laura Mascola, along with BitConnect promoters Michael Noble and Joshua Jeppesen, ordered to pay over $3.5 million for promoting unregistered securities.
Peter M. Stanley received permanent injunction in SEC securities fraud case involving Thomas S. Mackie and Andrew S. Fink, with $100K penalty waived.
James G. Lewis, former officer of JB Oxford Holdings, settled SEC civil fraud charges for late trading and market timing schemes, resulting in $1M in penalties.
Jason W. Brola received a $120,000 penalty after the SEC obtained default judgments against him and co-defendants for securities fraud and unregistered sales.
George H. Holley and Robert J. Hahn-Baiyor paid $312,440 in penalties for insider trading related to Nipro Corporation's acquisition of Home Diagnostics, Inc.
Joshua Craig Reeves and family defrauded investors of $120M through church bonds in Indiana. SEC secured injunctions, asset freezes, and $7.9M in penalties.
Edgar B. Alacan is subject to SEC enforcement action in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to collect a $110,000 civil penalty for securities violations.
John Larson and others settled SEC charges for selling unregistered partnership units using boiler room tactics, resulting in $175,688 disgorgement penalty.
Michael Luckhoo-Bouche was ordered to pay $8.2M in penalties for involvement in a COVID-19-related microcap fraud scheme alongside four other entities.
Jason C. Wong, along with Irwin Boock and Stanton B.J. DeFreitas, was ordered to pay part of $12.9M in relief for hijacking 23 defunct companies and selling unregistered securities.
Lalaine Ledford was involved in a $345 million Ponzi-like scheme orchestrated by Kevin B. Merrill and others, resulting in significant penalties and restitution.
Christopher Beals and Arden Lee faced SEC charges for negligent misrepresentations about WM Technology's monthly active users, resulting in $1.5M in penalties.
Martin Zaepfel, former Spiegel Inc. officer, paid $170,000 in penalties for overstating credit card receivables and concealing financial reports.
Morgan Cooper, along with James J. Caprio and Jeffrey G. Nunez, faced SEC charges for unregistered stock sales and false statements, resulting in $250,000+ penalties.
Kathleen Fraher, former Silvergate Capital executive, faced SEC charges for misleading investors about compliance and financial condition in a $50M case.
Paul Free was charged by the SEC with financial fraud at Delphi Corporation, settling for $300,000 in penalties related to accounting and disclosure violations.