Archive

July 14, 2016

Atlantas Group, Inc. and its sole owner and president, Edmund Hysni, of Waterford, Michigan, agreed to pay $7.2 million in restitution and penalties to resolve allegations that they engaged in solicitation fraud and made false statements to the National Futures Association in connection with its investigation of the alleged fraud.  CFTC

July 14, 2016

Following a public comment period, the FTC has approved a final consent order against Progressive Chevrolet Company and Progressive Motors Inc., of Massillon, Ohio, which the FTC charged with deceiving consumers by using advertising that touted low monthly car lease payments and down payments but failed to disclose other key terms of the offers. FTC

July 11, 2016

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc. has settled FTC charges that it deceived consumers during a marketing campaign for the video game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, by failing to adequately disclose that it paid online “influencers,” including the wildly popular “PewDiePie,” thousands of dollars to post positive gameplay videos on YouTube and social media. Over the course of the campaign, the sponsored videos were viewed more than 5.5 million times. FTC

June 28, 2016

The CFTC filed a lawsuit against Alvin Guy Wilkinson, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and his limited partnerships Chicago Index Partners, L.P. and Wilkinson Financial Opportunity Fund, L.P., both located in Sharon, Connecticut, alleging they fraudulently solicited over $6.9 million from at least 30 investors and misappropriated at least $5.2 million of investors funds.  CFTC

June 2, 2016

North Carolina-based investment adviser Richard W. Davis, Jr. has agreed to settle charges of defrauding investors by secretly steering portions of real estate-related investments into deals with companies he owned or operated.  The SEC further alleges that Davis made false and misleading statements to investors before and after they made their investments, failed to inform investors of their losses as his companies failed to pay the loans, and improperly received at least $1.5 million from bank accounts which commingled investor funds when he was only entitled to less than $150,000 in management fees.  Davis has agreed to a settlement subject to court approval with disgorgement plus interest and penalties to be determined by the court at a later date.  SEC

March 31, 2016

The CFTC filed a civil enforcement action against Hendrik A. Van Beuningen of Brookhaven, Georgia, and his company, DeBrink Trading Fund I, LLC of Atlanta, Georgia, alleging fraud, misappropriation, and issuing false statements in connection with a commodity pool they operated.  CFTC

March 29, 2016

AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc. will pay $4 million to settle charges that it mislead investors about its efforts to obtain FDA approval for Tivozanib, its flagship developmental drug to treat kidney cancer.  The SEC alleges that AVEO concealed the FDA’s level of concern about Tivozanib in public statements to investors by omitting the critical fact that FDA staff had recommended a second clinical trial to address concerns about patient death rates during the first clinical trial.  When the FDA made public months later that it had recommended an additional clinical trial, the company’s stock price declined 31 percent.  AVEO never conducted an additional trial and the FDA later refused to approve Tivozanib.  The SEC also filed charges against AVEO’s former CEO, CFO, and CMO.  These charges remain outstanding.  SEC

March 29, 2016

Former market analyst and TV news commentator Tobin Smith and his company NBT Group Inc. will pay over $250,000 to settle charges that they fraudulently promoted a penny stock to investors.  The SEC alleged that Smith and NBT were paid to prepare and disseminate communications touting the stock of IceWEB Inc., a data storage company.  Smith and NBT did not fully disclose their compensation to investors.  In addition, the promotional material contained false and misleading statements intended to artificially increase the trading volume and share price of IceWEB’s stock.  SEC

March 28, 2016

The SEC charged New York-based securities professional Andrew W.W. Caspersen with soliciting approximately $95 million from two institutional investors by offering promissory notes issued by Irving Place III SPV LLC.  The SEC alleges that Irving Place III SPV LLC is a shell entity formed and controlled by Caspersen with no legitimate business operations, unlike the similarly named Irving Place Capital Partners III SPV which is not associated with Caspersen in any way.  Caspersen obtained a $25 million investment in November 2015 from an institutional investor by falsely representing that the investment would be secured by approximately $900 million of assets of Irving Place Capital Partners III SPV.  SEC

March 25, 2016

The SEC brought fraud charges and obtained asset freezes against New Jersey fund manager John Bivona and his firms Saddle River Advisors and SRA Management Associates for marketing shares in promising pre-IPO tech companies in the Bay Area while stealing $5.7 million and diverting millions more to other improper and undisclosed uses.  The SEC alleges that Bivona used money raised through his firms to pay off earlier investors, prop up other funds, and pay family-related expenses.  He secretly steered the lion’s share of misappropriated funds to his nephew Frank Mazzola who was barred from the securities industry in a prior SEC enforcement action.  The SEC alleges that while Bivona raised more than $53 million from investors, the money he siphoned away for undisclosed uses left his firms continuously short of the cash needed to buy the shares promised to investors.  SEC