Archive

 April 29, 2015

The SEC charged the hedge fund advisory firm Alpha Titans LLC along with its principal Timothy P. McCormack and general counsel Kelly D. Kaeser with improper allocations of fund assets to pay undisclosed operating expenses.  To settle the SEC’s charges, Alpha Titans and McCormack agreed to pay disgorgement of $469,522, prejudgment interest of $28,928, and a penalty of $200,000.  Lesser agreed to pay a penalty of $75,000.  SEC

April 22, 2015

Real estate investment firm W2007 Grace Acquisition I Inc., which is indirectly owned by one or more private equity funds affiliated with The Goldman Sachs Group Inc., agreed to pay $640,000 to settle SEC charges relating to its failure to make eight required SEC filings.  SEC

April 22, 2015

The SEC announced a whistleblower award of roughly $1.5 million to a compliance officer who had a reasonable basis to believe that disclosure to the SEC was necessary to prevent imminent misconduct from causing substantial financial harm to the company or investors.  This is the second award the SEC has made to an employee with internal audit or compliance responsibilities.  Whistleblower Insider

April 20, 2015

BlackRock Advisors LLC agreed to pay a $12 million penalty to settle SEC charges it breached its fiduciary duty by failing to disclose a conflict of interest created by the outside business activity of a top-performing portfolio manager.  According to the SEC, Daniel J. Rice III was managing energy-focused funds at BlackRock when he founded Rice Energy, which later formed a joint venture with a publicly-traded coal company that eventually became the largest holding in the $1.7 billion BlackRock Energy & Resources Portfolio, the largest Rice-managed fund. Whistleblower Insider

April 16, 2015

The SEC charged New York City-based financial advisor Michael J. Oppenheim with stealing at least $20 million from customers to fund his own brokerage accounts and then squandering the bulk of the money in highly unprofitable options trading.  SEC

April 14, 2015

The SEC announced fraud charges and an asset freeze against central Texas-based Leroy Brown Jr. accused of telling false tales about his stockbroking experience to lure current and former US military personnel into investing with him.  According to the government, Brown through his firm LB Stocks and Trades Advice LLC falsely assured investors, including some stationed at nearby Fort Hood, that he had many years of experience in the securities markets when in fact he is not a licensed securities professional and his firm is not registered with the SEC, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or any state regulator, and they have no evident experience with investments.  SEC

April 9, 2015

Katsuichi Fusamae, a senior accounting officer at Molex Japan Co. Ltd., agreed to settle SEC charges he cost his company millions of dollars in trading losses and manipulated accounting records to avoid detection.  Specifically, the SEC alleged Fusamae engaged in unauthorized equity trading in the company’s brokerage accounts that resulted in losses of more than $110 million and then concealed the losses by taking out unauthorized and undisclosed company loans with Japanese banks and brokerage firms to replenish account balances.  Fusamae admitted wrongdoing and accepted a permanent bar from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company with possible monetary sanctions to come.  SEC

April 9, 2015

The SEC announced fraud charges and an asset freeze against the operators of a South Florida-based microcap scheme spearheaded by Dean A. Esposito, Joseph DeVito, and Frederick Birks, all hired by the CEO of eCareer Holdings, Inc. Joseph J. Azzata.  According to the SEC, more than $11 million were raised from more than 400 investors by telling them their money would be used as working capital to develop eCareer’s online job staffing business when in reality much of it was diverted to pay exorbitant fees to the brokers and sales agents.  SEC

April 8, 2015

Oregon-based defense contractor FLIR Systems Inc. agreed to pay more than $9.5 million to settle charges it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by financing a “world tour” of personal travel and gifts for Middle East government officials.  FLIR, which develops infrared technology for use in binoculars and other sensing products, allegedly earned more than $7 million in profits from sales influenced by the improper travel and gifts.  Whistleblower Insider

April 7, 2015

The SEC charged Los Angeles-based Pacific West Capital Group Inc. and its owner Andrew B. Calhoun IV with fraud in the sale of “life settlement” investments.  The SEC’s complaint alleges since at least 2012, Pacific West and Calhoun defrauded investors by using proceeds from the sale of new life settlements to continue funding life settlement investments sold years earlier to make life settlement investments appear successful.  SEC