Financial and Investment Fraud

ITG - Securities Fraud violations (Multi-Millions)

Constantine Cannon represented a whistleblower in a submission under the SEC Whistleblower Program relating to brokerage firm ITG's alleged violations of the firm’s dark pool, POSIT.  In May 2021, the SEC awarded our client 30% of the government's recovery, the maximum amount allowed under the program.  Read more -- CC

January 11, 2021

Steve Chen was sentenced to 10 years in prison following his guilty plea to charges arising from his promotion of a pyramid/Ponzi scam that netted $147 million from tens of thousands of investors.  Chen told victims that they could purchase interests in U.S. Fine Investment Arts, Inc. and other companies owned by him, falsely claiming that those companies mined and sold amber and other gemstones, and enlisted those investors to recruit others by awarding them bonuses and “Gem Coins” that he claimed were a digital currency.  USAO CD Cal

January 8, 2021

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to pay over $130 million to resolve charges that the financial services company violated the FCPA and engaged in a commodities fraud scheme.  The SEC charged that Deutsche Bank made payments to individuals including foreign officials, their relatives, and their associates as third-party intermediaries and consultants to obtain and retain global business, and lacked sufficient internal accounting controls related to the use and payment of such intermediaries, resulting in millions in bribe payments or payments for unknown, undocumented, or unauthorized services that were inaccurately recorded as legitimate business expenses with documentation falsified by Deutsche Bank employees. The agreed payment represents a $79.6 million criminal penalty and $43.3 million in disgorgement in prejudgment interest to the SEC.   Separately, in connection with a spoofing scheme undertaken by Deutsche precious metals traders in New York, Singapore, and London the bank agreed to a total of $7.5 million in criminal penalties, disgorgement, and restitution, the penalty amount of which will be credited against a 2018 $30 million CFTC civil penalty for substantially the same conduct.   SEC; DOJ

January 7, 2021

The SEC has awarded five whistleblowers more than $1.1 million for providing information that led to three successful enforcement actions.  The first order credited three whistleblowers with information and assistance that led to two related enforcement actions; the three were awarded nearly $500,000.  The second order awarded nearly $600,000 to an individual who reported concerns internally before providing extensive assistance to SEC investigators.  The third order awarded over $100,000 to an individual who provided independent analysis of publicly available documents; this is the fifth such whistleblower this fiscal year who has granted an award.  SEC

January 7, 2021

Andrei Tyurin, who previously pleaded guilty to an extensive computer hacking campaign that targeted financial institutions, brokerage firms, and financial publishers, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.  Tyurin’s hacking, which included the theft of data for 80 million customers of J.P. Morgan Chase, was done in part in to advance securities fraud schemes with co-conspirators.  USAO SDNY

January 6, 2021

Utah-based smart home monitoring service provider Vivint Smart Home Inc. has agreed to pay $3.2 million to resolve allegations of making false and misleading statements to federally funded institutions, in violation of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA).  In order to sell Vivant products, certain door-to-door sales representatives allegedly used their own funds to cover initial payments for customers who needed financing from federally funded institutions, while representing to those institutions that the borrowers themselves had made the payments.  The fraudulent conduct, which occurred between 2017 and 2020, was eventually revealed by a declarant, who will be eligible for an award under the Financial Institutions Anti-Fraud Enforcement Act.  DOJ; USAO UT

January 4, 2021

Georgia-based ready-mix concrete company Argos USA LLC entered into a settlement admitting that between 2010 and 2016 it conspired to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate the market for ready-mix concrete in Georgia and elsewhere.  As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, Argos will pay a $20 million criminal penalty, institute a compliance program, and cooperate in ongoing investigations.  The unlawful actions included coordinated issuance of price-increase letters, the allocation of specific ready-mix jobs in the coastal Georgia area, the imposition of fuel surcharges and environmental fees, and the submission of bids at collusive and noncompetitive prices.  DOJ

January 4, 2021

French bank Union de Banques Arabes et Françaises will pay $8.6 million to resolve an investigation into its operation of U.S. dollar accounts on behalf of Syrian financial institutions subject to U.S. sanctions.  UBAF’s practices allowed the sanctioned entities to conduct transactions through a U.S. bank following internal transfers between the sanctioned entities and non-sanctioned entities that were also UBAF customers.  OFAC