Archive

March 18, 2022

The CFTC has made a $10 million award to a whistleblower whose tip sparked an investigation, and whose supplemental information helped move it along.  CFTC

March 18, 2022

The SEC has made three awards totaling approximately $3 million to three whistleblowers whose actions helped lead to three enforcement actions.  All three whistleblowers were said to have provided information that prompted the agency to open investigations into potential securities law violations.  Two of the whistleblowers were company insiders who reported concerns internally before coming forward.  SEC

March 17, 2022

USAA Federal Savings Bank will pay $140 million in penalties and admit that it willfully failed to implement and maintain an anti‑money laundering (AML) program that met the requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act, and willfully failed to submit timely and accurate suspicious activity reports.  FinCEN imposed a $140 million penalty, and the bank will receive credit for its payment of a $60 million penalty imposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for related violations. FinCEN; OCC

March 16, 2022

Online travel agency Fareportal Inc., which operates travel websites such as CheapOair.com and OneTravel.com, has agreed to pay $2.6 million to settle claims of misleading consumers with deceptive marketing tactics intended to create false demand and pressure consumers into making purchases.  As part of the settlement, the company is also required to display accurate, real-time information to consumers.  NY AG

March 15, 2022

London-based swap dealer ED&F Man Capital Markets, Ltd. will pay $3.25 million to resolve claims that it failed to comply with swap dealer requirements including by failing to report accurate swaps data to a swaps data repository, failing to disclose to its U.S. swaps counterparties that affiliated-entity proprietary traders had access to counterparties’ trade information, and failing to disclose mid-market marks to counterparties. The CFTC further found that the entity failed to maintain an adequate supervisory system or perform its supervisory obligations diligently.  CFTC

March 15, 2022

Fund manager Eric Malley, his company MG Capital Management LP, and related entities MG Capital Realty Management LLC and MG GP III LP, have agreed to pay $12 million to resolve charges of defrauding investors.  In order to market two real estate funds managed by MG Capital, Malley allegedly made a number of material misrepresentations, including that he’d previously managed two highly successful funds and that investor funds were protected against loss.  In fact, Malley was a real estate broker with no experience managing investments, the prior funds did not exist, and he was misappropriating millions from the new funds.  SEC

March 14, 2022

An energy service company has agreed to pay $2.15 million in restitution to New York consumers after an investigation found that its dishonest business practices caused consumers to pay hundreds of dollars extra per year for gas and electricity.  In addition to the monetary penalty, Family Energy is also required to take measures to prevent future abuses, including adequately training its representatives, monitoring and recording telephone communications, refraining from misleading marketing, and implementing disciplinary actions for any violations.  NY AG

March 11, 2022

A whistleblower was awarded $14 million by the SEC in a decision that departed from the recommendation of the Claims Review Staff to deny the award.  A report about a fraud committed by a company and its CEO was published online; two individuals claimed to be authors of the report, which contained analysis derived from a large number of publicly-available and non-public sources.  Neither submitted a TCR to the SEC at the time the report was published, although the whistleblower who received the award provided the report directly to Commission staff and provided additional information during the course of the enforcement action that the SEC initiated based on the report’s allegations.   The whistleblower did submit a TCR two months after the SEC posted a Notice of Covered Action, more than four years after the report was publicly released.  The Commission found that it would be in the public interest and consistent with the protection of investors to exercise its discretionary authority and grant an award despite the individual’s failure to initially file a TCR.  The second claimant, who did not submit a TCR at any time, and who did not communicate with enforcement staff, was denied an award.  SEC

March 10, 2022

The founders of cryptocurrency company Bitqyck, Bruce Bise and Samuel Mendez, have been sentenced to 8 years in prison for tax evasion, two years after an $8 million settlement with the SEC for charges of defrauding over 13,000 investors of $24 million.  According to the DOJ press release, Bise and Mendex each diverted over $4 million of investor funds for personal expenses, then underreported their income and failed to file corporate tax returns for Bitqyck.  USAO NDTX

March 10, 2022

The CFTC has awarded two whistleblowers awards totaling approximately $500,000 after they separately provided significant information and substantial assistance that helped lead to a successful enforcement action.  According to the agency, the whistleblowers’ tip helped expand the scope of an existing investigation and led to other key evidence.  CFTC