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April 17, 2014

The SEC charged Massachusetts-based TelexFree for allegedly operating a large pyramid scheme that mainly targeted Dominican and Brazilian immigrants in the US.  According to the SEC’s complaint, the defendants sold securities in the form of TelexFree “memberships” that promised annual returns of 200% or more but the company’s sales revenues of approximately $1.3M from August 2012 through March 2014 are barely one percent of the more than $1.1B needed to cover its promised payments.  SEC

Tagged in: Ponzi Schemes, Securities Fraud,

April 17, 2014

The SEC charged Keith Seilhan, a former 20-year employee of BP and a senior responder during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, with insider trading in BP securities based on confidential information about the magnitude of the disaster.  According to the SEC’s complaint, BP tasked Seilhan with coordinating BP’s oil collection and clean-up operations in the Gulf of Mexico and while in possession of material, nonpublic information, and in breach of duties owed to BP and its shareholders, he directed the sale of his family’s entire $1 million portfolio of BP securities over the course of two days in late April 2010.  SEC

Tagged in: Insider Trading, Securities Fraud,

April 15, 2014

The SEC charged San Diego-based investment advisory firm Total Wealth Management and its owner and CEO Jacob Cooper with misleading investors and breaching their fiduciary duties to clients by entering into undisclosed revenue sharing agreements through which they paid themselves kickbacks or so-called “revenue sharing fees.”  They failed to disclose to clients the conflicts of interest created by these agreements as they recommended the underlying investments to clients and investors in the Altus family of funds.  SEC

Tagged in: Regulatory Violations, Securities Fraud,

April 8, 2014

The SEC announced fraud charges and an asset freeze against the operators of JCS Enterprises Inc. and T.B.T.I. Inc., a South Florida-based Ponzi scheme which targeted investors through YouTube videos and sold them investments in a product called virtual concierge machines (VCMs) that would purportedly generate guaranteed returns of 300 to 500 percent in four years.  SEC

Tagged in: Ponzi Schemes, Securities Fraud,

April 8, 2014

The SEC charged CVS Caremark Corp. with misleading investors about significant financial setbacks and using improper accounting that artificially boosted its financial performance.  CVS  agreed to pay $20M to settle the charges.  SEC

Tagged in: Accounting Fraud, Securities Fraud,

April 3, 2014

The SEC charged the St. Petersburg, Florida-based financial services firm, Transamerica Financial Advisors, with improperly calculating advisory fees and overcharging clients. SEC

Tagged in: Regulatory Violations, Securities Fraud,

March 28, 2014

The SEC announced charges and asset freezes against three entities operating under the business names WCM and WCM777 for allegedly running a worldwide pyramid scheme targeting Asian and Latino communities in the U.S. and abroad.  According to the SEC’s complaint, WCM and WCM777 have raised more than $65M since March 2013 by, among other things, falsely promising tens of thousands of investors a return on investment of 100 percent or more in 100 days. SEC

Tagged in: Misrepresentations, Ponzi Schemes, Securities Fraud,

March 19, 2014

The SEC charged Vladimir Eydelman, a stock broker, and Steven Metro, a managing clerk at the New York law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, with insider trading around more than a dozen mergers or other corporate transactions for illicit profits of $5.6M during a four-year period.  Metro allegedly obtained inside information from the firm’s corporate clients involved in pending deals by accessing confidential documents in the law firm’s computer system.  SEC

Tagged in: Insider Trading, Securities Fraud,

March 12, 2014

The SEC charged global investment bank and brokerage firm Jefferies LLC with failing to supervise employees on its mortgage-backed securities desk who were lying to customers about pricing during the financial crisis.  Jefferies agreed to pay $25M to settle the SEC’s charges as well as a parallel action by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.  SEC

Tagged in: Misrepresentations, Regulatory Violations, Securities Fraud,

March 5, 2014

Long Island-based proprietary trading firm, Worldwide Capital, and its owner Jeffrey Lynn, agreed to pay $7.2M to settle charges they violated Rule 105 short-selling restrictions, the largest-ever monetary sanction for Rule 105 short selling violations.  SEC

Tagged in: Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, Securities Fraud,

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