Archive

February 5, 2016

The CFTC filed a civil injunctive anti-fraud enforcement action against Rico Omar Cox of Dania Beach, Florida, alleging that between August 2010 through March 2015, Cox fraudulently solicited his trading services for managed commodity futures accounts, and lost most of the $499,000 he traded for or on behalf of at least nine clients. CFTC

February 4, 2016

A federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida ordered Robert Tripode of Boynton Beach, Florida to pay over $300,000 in penalties and restitution in connection with his fraudulent activities in the Forex market as an employee and agent of Forex Monthly Income Fund (FMIF), a commodity pool based in Miami, Florida.  CFTC

February 4, 2016

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered Worth Group Inc. of Jupiter, Florida, its owner and operator, Andrew Wilshire of Jupiter, Florida, and Wilshire’s sister, Eugenia Mildner also of Jupiter, Florida, who served as Worth’s sole officer and director prior to February 2012, to pay restitution of $1,250,000 and a civil monetary penalty of $1,250,000 as sanctions for engaging in an illegal off-exchange precious metals scheme.  CFTC

February 3, 2016

The CFTC filed a civil injunctive action against Oakmont Financial, Inc. of Boynton Beach, Florida, and Joseph Charles DiCrisci of New York, New York, an Oakmont owner and principal, alleging that the defendants engaged in illegal, off-exchange transactions in precious metals with retail customers on a leveraged, margined, or financed basis.  CFTC

February 1, 2016

Barclays Capital Inc. and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC will pay a combined $154.3 million to the State of New York and the SEC to settle investigations into false statements and omissions made in connection with the marketing of their respective dark pools and other high-speed electronic equities trading services. Dark pools are private exchanges for trading securities that are not viewable by the general public and are completed outside of public stock exchanges. Barclays admitted to core facts set forth in the Attorney General’s Complaint from June 2014 alleging misrepresentations about how it operated its dark pool, “Barclays LX,” including that it misled investors and violated securities laws. NY

January 29, 2016

Arthur Budovsky, founder of Liberty Reserve, which billed itself as the Internet’s "largest payment processor and money transfer system," pleaded guilty to running a massive money laundering enterprise used by cybercriminals around the world to launder the proceeds of their illegal activity.  Budovsky specifically designed Liberty Reserve to help users conduct anonymous and untraceable illegal transactions and launder the proceeds of their crimes.  Before the government shut it down in May 2013, Liberty Reserve had more than 5 million user accounts worldwide and had processed millions of transactions.  Budovsky admitted to laundering more than $250 million in criminal proceeds.  DOJ

January 27, 2016

Arizona developer and attorney John Keith Hoover was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a major investment and bankruptcy fraud in which he created nearly two dozen companies solicit money from Arizona and California investors for bogus real-estate developments.  Several investors were widows who gave Hoover control of the bulk of their estates based on his friendship with their families and because of the trust he developed as an attorney.  Hoover encouraged investors to liquidate retirement accounts, life-insurance policies, mutual funds and securities, and Social Security death benefits to fund their investments with him, and then used investor money to pay his living expenses.  When he ran out of money, he refinanced properties with false representations about salary, assets, liabilities, employment, and sources of down payments. Then, he and his wife filed bankruptcy while hiding assets.  DOJ (AZ)

January 20, 2016

Ocwen Financial Corp. will pay $2 million to settle charges that it misstated financial results by using a flawed, undisclosed methodology to value complex mortgage assets.  Ocwen inaccurately disclosed to investors that it independently valued these assets at fair market value according to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. In fact, Ocwen merely used, and failed to review, the valuation performed by a related party to which it sold the rights to service certain mortgages.  In addition, the SEC found that Ocwen’s internal controls failed to prevent conflicts of interest involving Ocwen’s executive chairman who played a dual role in many related party transactions.  As a result, Ocwen’s executive chairman was able to approve transactions from both sides, including a $75 million bridge loan to Ocwen from a company where he also served as chairman of the board.  SEC

January 19, 2016

Equinox Fund Management LLC, a Denver-based alternative fund manager, will pay over $6 million to settle charges that the firm overcharged management fees and misled investors about how it valued certain assets.  Equinox will refund investors approximately $5.4 million in excessive management fees collected during a seven-year period.  SEC

January 15, 2016

The SEC awards more than $700,000 to a whistleblower described as a “company outsider.”  The SEC says that the whistleblower provided a “detailed analysis” of the wrongdoing that lead to a successful SEC enforcement action.  SEC