Financial and Investment Fraud

August 30, 2021

Cetera Advisor Networks LLC and related entities will pay $300,000 to resolve SEC charges that the investment advisor and broker-dealer violated Regulation S-P regarding the safeguarding of customer records and information and provision of breach notification to customers. The SEC alleged that between November 2017 and June 2020, email accounts of Cetera personnel were taken over by unauthorized third parties, resulting in the exposure of personally identifying information of more than 4,000 Cetera customers and clients.  The accounts were not protected with multi-factor authentication, even though Cetera’s policies required MFA.  SEC

August 27, 2021

Five whistleblowers whose information and assistance led to three separate SEC enforcement actions have been awarded approximately $2.6 million.  In the first award, one whistleblower received $1.2 million for developing a complex algorithm, applying it to publicly available data, and providing the agency with independent analysis that saved valuable time and resources.  In the second award, three whistleblowers received over $1 million for reporting information after reporting internally failed to achieve results.  In the third award, one whistleblower received $350,000 for providing independent analysis based on patterns detected in publicly available data, which required expertise developed over many years.  SEC

August 27, 2021

Two securities lawyers and the former COO of commercial lending company 1 Global Capital LLC have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 8 months to 5 years, and ordered to pay between $29 million and nearly $150 million in restitution, after pleading guilty to running a massive fraud scheme that affected more than 3,600 investors across 42 states.  In order to attract investments to 1 Global Capital, yet assuage investor concerns about whether it was selling legal securities, former COO Steven Schwartz, attorney Andrew Ledbetter, and outside counsel Jan Atlas knowingly made false and misleading representations.  In exchange for their work for 1 Global Capital, Ledbetter and Atlas received substantial commissions over the years, which they failed to disclose to the law firm they were both employed with.  USAO SDFL

August 24, 2021

Healthcare Services Group, Inc., which provides housekeeping, dining, and other services to healthcare facilities, will pay $6 million to resolve charges of improper accounting.  The SEC alleged that the company failed to comply with GAAP in 2014 and 2015 by failing to timely accrue for and disclose material loss contingencies related to litigation against the company despite evidence that liability was probable and reasonably estimable.  As a result, the company was able to report earnings per share that matched market expectations.  The SEC investigation resulted from its “EPS Initiative,” which uses data analytics to identify improper accounting and disclosure practices.  HCSG's former CFO John C. Shea and its controller, Derya Warner, will pay penalties of $50,000 and $10,000, respectively.  SEC

August 17, 2021

Investment advisor Murchinson Ltd., together with associated individuals Marc Bistricer and Paul Zogala, will pay restitution, interest, and penalties totaling nearly $9 million to resolve allegations that they caused a hedge fund client to violate Regulation SHO regarding uncovered short sales and other problematic trading practices.  Respondents allegedly provided erroneous order-marking information, thereby causing the hedge fund brokers to mismark the hedge funds’ sales as “long,” and resulting in their failure to borrow or locate shares prior to executing the sales.  SEC

August 16, 2021

Education publishing company Pearson plc agreed to pay $1 million to resolve an SEC investigation into its disclosures regarding a 2018 data breach that resulted in the exposure of millions of student and school administrator records, including birthdates, e-mail addresses, user names, and hashed passwords.  The SEC found that Pearson understated the nature and scope of the incident, overstated the company’s data protections, and had inadequate controls and procedures regarding the assessment and reporting of cybersecurity incidents.  Pearson, which is publicly traded in the UK, is a foreign private issuer with ADRs trading on the NYSE. SEC

August 13, 2021

Tyson Foods, Inc. will pay $1.5 million to resolve allegations that on nearly 600 dates between 2016 and 2021 the company held positions in Chicago Board of Trade soybean meal futures in excess of then-applicable federal position limits, and filed incorrect Statements of Cash Positions in Grain (Form 204) with the CFTC.  CFTC

August 10, 2021

The SEC has made awards of nearly $6 million total to two whistleblowers.  According to the agency, one whistleblower received $3.5 million for providing valuable new information that expanded the geographic scope of an existing investigation.  The second whistleblower received more than $2.4 million for providing information about previously unknown conduct.  SEC