Shell Hijacker, Mark Miller, Sentenced to One Year in Prison
On May 18, 2023, Mark Miller became the last of three men to be sentenced for a securities fraud scheme that involved…
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Insights on securities law, exchange listings, going public, SEC reporting, and market regulation. Stay updated with our latest articles on capital markets compliance, regulatory developments, and strategic guidance for public and private companies.
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SEC Obtains Partial Summary Judgment Against Joshua Sason and Magna Group in IIIegal Microcap Securities Offerings
On May 4, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the Commission summary judgment on its…
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SEC Obtains Final Judgments Against Alexander J. Dillon, Cosmin I. Panait, and their corporate entities GPL Ventures LLC and GPL Management LLC
On May 2, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered final judgments against Alexander J. Dillon,…
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SEC Obtains Default Judgments Against Lesley Greyling and Trend Investments Inc
Published: May 1, 2023 On April 25, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered final judgments against defendants…
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Five People Charged in $2M Virtual Asset and Securities Manipulation Scheme
An indictment was unsealed on Monday, April 24th in Miami charging two U.S. citizens and a South African national with conspiring to…
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Gerald Shaw, a Disbarred Attorney and Convicted Felon, Arrested For Involvement In Multi-Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme
On Thursday, April 20, 2023, Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michael J. Driscoll, the…
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Reverse Mergers After Amended Form 15c-21
A “Reverse Merger” is a transaction whereby a privately held company becomes a Public Company (“Public Company” or “Public Company Candidate”) by…
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SEC Charges Sean Wygovsky and Christopher Matthaei in Multi-Million Dollar SPAC Insider Trading Scheme
On March 30, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) filed insider trading charges against Sean Wygovsky, a former trader at…
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Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul and six other celebrities charged by the SEC in crypto fraud
On Wednesday, March 22nd, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) announced charges against eight celebrities in connection with a broader investigation…
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Motion to Dismiss Denied by Court in DarkPulse Case Against EMA Financial LLC
On March 1, 2023, EMA Group, LLC (“EMA Group”) and Felicia Preston (“Preston”), the sole owner of EMA Group, lost a motion…
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SEC Charges The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Its Investment Management Company for Disclosure Failures and Misstated Filings
On February 21, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) announced charges against Ensign Peak Advisers Inc., a non-profit entity operated…
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SEC Charges NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce for Unlawfully Touting and Making Misleading Statements about Crypto Security
On February 17, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) charged yet another celebrity for promoting a crypto asset security without…
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Rule 506(b) and Rule 506(c) State Blue Sky Laws
While the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) regulates and enforces the federal securities laws, each state has its own securities regulator…
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General Solicitation and Advertising in Rule 506 Offerings
Both public and private companies may conduct securities offerings using Rule 506. The exemption provides a valuable tool for enabling issuers to…
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Regulation D Rule 504, Rule 506(b), Rule 506(c) Offering Exemptions
Securities offerings must be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) or exempt from registration. Private placements are unregistered, non-public securities…
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Gonzalo Ortiz Sentenced to 30 Months’ Imprisonment for Defrauding Investor and Lying about his Trading Experience
Gonzalo Ortiz was sentenced on February 2, 2023, in federal court in Brooklyn to 30 months in prison for defrauding an investor…
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SEC Obtains Over $5 Million Final Judgment Against Charlie Abujudeh in Multi-Million Dollar Microcap Pump and Dump Scheme
On January 20, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a final judgment against California resident…
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Former top FBI official Charles McGonigal arrested over ties to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska
Charles McGonigal, a former top counterintelligence official in the FBI’s New York Field Office, who retired from the FBI in 2018, has…
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SEC Charges Avraham Eisenberg with Manipulating Mango Markets’ “Governance Token” to Steal $116 Million of Crypto Assets
On January 20, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged Avraham Eisenberg with orchestrating an attack on a crypto asset…
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SEC Obtains Judgment Against Todd Zinkwich
On January 12, 2023, the U.S. District Court in Boston entered a final judgment by consent against Florida resident Todd Zinkwich, whom…
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SEC Charges Andrew DeFrancesco, Marlio Mauricio Diaz Cardona, Carlos Felipe Rezk, Nikola Faukovic, and Catherine DeFrancesco for their roles in a fraudulent scheme to mislead investors about Cool Holdings, Inc
On January 6, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced charges against five individuals for their roles in a fraudulent scheme…
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OTC Markets Group Offers New Guidance for Submitting Attorney Letters
OTC Markets Group has published amendments to the Pink Basic Disclosure Guidelines. The amendments to the Guidelines have been updated to require…
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SEC Wins $10.2 Million Judgment Against Justin W. Keener d/b/a JMJ Financial For Acting As Unregistered Penny Stock Dealer
On December 20, 2022, Judge Beth Bloom of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida entered a final…
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OTC Markets Group Publishes Guidance on Dilution Risk with Respect to OTCQX and OTCQB Applicants
OTC Markets published guidance with respect to Section 2.13(d) of the OTCQX Rules for U.S. Companies and Section 1.4(5) of the OTCQB…
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SEC Charges J.H. Darbie & Co with Anti-Money Laundering Violations
On December 12, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged J.H. Darbie & Co., Inc., a New York City-based brokerage…
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Members of New Republican House Majority Seek to Rein in Gary Gensler
A week before the 2022 midterm elections, the ranking members of four important committees of the House of Representatives composed and jointly…
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Charges Filed Against Eight Social Media Influencers in $100 Million Stock Manipulation Scheme Promoted on Discord and Twitter
On December 13, 2022, eight social media influencers were arrested and charged in the United States District Court for the Southern District…
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FTX Founder Samuel Bankman-Fried Charged by the SEC and Criminally Indicted
Today, December 13, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged Samuel Bankman-Fried with orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors…
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Justin Bieber, Kevin Hart, Snoop Dogg, Madonna, Serena Williams, Jimmy Fallon, and More Are Being Sued for Promoting Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs
A Class Action Complaint filed in the United States District Court Central District of California Western Division on December 8, 2022 names…
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Audits With Deficiencies Increased in 2021, According to New PCAOB Staff Report
December 8, 2022 A new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) staff report published this month, found on the Staff Publications page…
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https://www.finra.org/JOBS Act 101
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