The SEC’s complaint alleges that Kevin Amell carried out a fraudulent matched-trades scheme in which he prearranged the purchase or sale of call options between his own account and the brokerage accounts of the fund at prices that were disadvantageous to the fund and advantageous to him. In one series of trades involving Amazon securities, for example, Kevin Amell allegedly generated a $23,000 profit for himself in less than 23 minutes at the fund’s expense.
SEC Charges Kevin Amell with Fraud
On April 24, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced fraud charges against Kevin Amell, a Massachusetts-based portfolio manager accused of diverting at least $1.95 million to his personal brokerage account from a fund over which he had trading authority.
“As alleged in our complaint, Kevin Amell abused his trading authority at least 265 times by matching trades between the fund and his personal account at prices that he intentionally and fraudulently skewed to benefit himself,” said Joseph G. Sansone, Co-Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Market Abuse Unit.
In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts today filed criminal charges against Kevin Amell.
The SEC’s complaint charges Kevin Amell with violating Sections 17(a)(1) and (3) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5(a) and (c), and Sections 17(a)(1), 17(a)(2) and 17(j) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and Rules 17j-1(b)(1), (3) and (4). The SEC is seeking disgorgement of Kevin Amell’s ill-gotten gains plus interest and penalties as well as injunctions.
For further information about this article, please contact Brenda Hamilton, Securities Attorney at 101 Plaza Real S, Suite 202N, Boca Raton, Florida, (561) 416-8956, [email protected] or visit www.securitieslawyer101.com. This blog post is provided as a general informational service to clients and friends of Hamilton & Associates Law Group and should not be construed as, and does not constitute, legal and compliance advice on any specific matter, nor does this message create an attorney-client relationship. Please note that the prior results discussed herein do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Hamilton & Associates | Securities Lawyers
Brenda Hamilton, Securities Attorney
101 Plaza Real South, Suite 202 North
Boca Raton, Florida 33432
Telephone: (561) 416-8956
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www.SecuritiesLawyer101.com
