SEC Hits Crypto Firm BlockFi with $100 Million in Penalties
Posted 02/22/22
Securities Fraud
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February 11, 2022
Defendants Seyed Taher Kameli and his companies, Chicagoland Foreign Investment Group, LLC and American Enterprise Pioneers, Inc., will pay jointly and severally $1.6 million after entering into a judgment for defrauding EB-5 immigrant investors. Kameli is an immigration attorney, some of whose clients were victims of the fraud. He promised at least 226 foreign investors that their $500,000 investments would finance construction of a senior living project and pave the way for at least 10 permanent full-time jobs, as well as qualifying each investor for a path to permanent U.S. residency. Instead, he commingled and misused some of the $88.7 million raised. Defendants are enjoined from further violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Kameli also agreed administratively to a 5-year suspension from practicing before the SEC as an attorney. SECPrecious Metals, Costly Fraud
Posted 02/4/22
Top Ten Financial and Healthcare Fraud Prison Sentences of 2021
Posted 01/28/22
January 20, 2022
Florida resident Mary Kathryn Marr was sentenced to 14 years in prison following her guilty plea on charges related to her role in a criminal enterprise that scammed victims into sending members of the conspiracy funds for fraudulent investments based on high-pressure “boiler room” tactics. The conspirators operated a network of bank accounts in the names of shell companies into which the boiler room agents, and sometimes Marr herself, instructed victims to send their money. The victims’ funds were then laundered through more bank accounts and sent overseas. Marr was also ordered to forfeit various assets, pay a fine of $1.5 million, and pay restitution of $14.5 million to victims. USAO MD FLJanuary 10, 2022
The SEC has issued two awards totaling more than $4 million to three whistleblowers whose information and assistance helped bring about two successful enforcement actions. In the first order, a single whistleblower who reported internally before providing significant new information to the agency on an existing investigation was awarded $2.6 million. According to the SEC, the misconduct occurred overseas and would have been difficult to detect without the whistleblower’s tip. In the second order, two whistleblowers received a joint award of $1.5 million for providing substantial ongoing assistance. SECTop Ten SEC and CFTC Recoveries of 2021
Posted 01/7/22
Top Ten Whistleblower Awards of 2021
Posted 01/6/22
