SEC Charges Convertible Note Dealer Crown Bridge Partners, LLC, and its managing members, Soheil and Sepas Ahdoot for Failure to Register

  August 2, 2022 — The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) today announced settled charges against a convertible note dealer, Crown Bridge Partners, LLC, and its managing members, Soheil and Sepas Ahdoot of Great Neck, N.Y., for… Read More

SEC Charges Eleven Individuals in $300 Million Crypto Pyramid Scheme known as Forsage

August 1, 2022 — The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) today charged 11 individuals for their roles in creating and promoting Forsage, a fraudulent crypto pyramid and Ponzi scheme that raised more than $300 million from millions… Read More

SEC Charges Bradley Moynes and Digatrade Financial Corp in Fraudulent Microcap Scheme

On June 27, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged Canadian citizen Bradley Moynes and Canadian corporation Digatrade Financial Corp. for engaging in a deceptive scheme involving microcap companies that generated more than $1.5 million in… Read More

SEC Charges Empires Consulting Corp and its founders, Emerson Sousa Pires and Flavio Mendes Goncalves, and head trader, Joshua David Nicholas, with Fake Trading Scheme

On June 30, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) filed fraud charges against Empires Consulting Corp (“EmpiresX”), its founders, Emerson Sousa Pires and Flavio Mendes Goncalves, and its head trader, Joshua David Nicholas, (collectively, the “Defendants”)… Read More

SEC Sues LG Capital Funding and Its Managing Member, Joseph Lerman, for Acting as Unregistered Securities Dealers

On June 7, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced charges against LG Capital Funding, LLC (“LG Capital”) and its managing member Joseph Lerman of Brooklyn, New York, for failing to register as securities dealers with… Read More

SEC Charges Trends Investments Inc., Clinton Greyling and Leslie Greyling

On June 9, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged Trends Investments Inc. and five individuals, Clinton Greyling of Florida, Leslie Greyling (Clinton’s father, a resident of the United Kingdom), former Massachusetts resident Brandon Rossetti, Roger… Read More

In Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) adjudication of fraud cases in administrative proceedings is unconstitutional

On May 18, 2022, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission held that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s administrative proceedings adjudicating securities is unconstitutional. On March 22, 2013, the SEC… Read More

Court Denies Carebourn Capital’s Motion for Judgement on the Pleadings in SEC Case

On May 24, 2022, United States District Judge Katherine Menendez filed her Order in response to Carebourn Capital, L.P.’s Motion for Judgement on the Pleadings to dismiss the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) case filed against the penny… Read More

PCAOB Sanctions Former BF Borgers Audit Director Bo-Shiang (“Eric”) Lien

On May 24, 2022, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) announced that it has sanctioned Bo-Shiang (“Eric”) Lien, a former audit director and non-equity partner at BF Borgers CPA PC, for violations of PCAOB rules and standards… Read More

SEC obtains asset freezes and other emergency relief against StraightPath Venture Partners LLC, StraightPath Management LLC, Brian K. Martinsen, Michael A. Castillero, Francine A. Lanaia, and Eric D. Lachow

On May 16, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) obtained asset freezes and other emergency relief against StraightPath Venture Partners LLC, StraightPath Management LLC, Brian K. Martinsen, Michael A. Castillero, Francine A. Lanaia, and Eric D…. Read More

OTCQX Markets Foreign Issuer Dual Listings – OTCQX Eligibility, Listing, Quotation

The OTC Markets OTCQX offers foreign issuers seeking to go public in the U.S. an appealing alternative to listing on a stock exchange.  Foreign issuers whose securities are listed on a foreign stock exchange that qualify for the… Read More

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Ordering Frederick Sharp to Pay $52,925,214

On Friday, May 12, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it obtained a final judgment against Canadian resident Frederick L. Sharp. In August 2021, the SEC charged Sharp with leading a fraudulent scheme that generated hundreds… Read More

Attorneys Gone Wild: Shawn Hackman, Elaine A. Dowling, and Harold P. Gewerter

On April 29, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a judgment against Shawn Hackman, who was previously disbarred by the State of Nevada and suspended by the SEC, ordering him to comply with the SEC’s suspension order… Read More

SEC Files Charges Against Michael Forster

On May 4, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) filed a complaint alleging Michael Forster engaged in manipulative trading in connection with a microcap issuer he controlled, Cuba Beverage Company (CUBV), a purported energy drink company…. Read More

OTC Markets Listing and Quotation – OTCQB Requirements

OTC Markets Group (“OTC Markets”) requires companies seeking quotation of their securities on the OTCQB® Venture Stage Marketplace (“OTCQB”) have an initial and ongoing $0.01 per share minimum bid price, submit an initial OTCQB application, pay annual fees, and submit… Read More

SEC Charges Sung Kook (Bill) Hwang and Archegos Capital Management

On April 27, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Sung Kook (Bill) Hwang, the owner of family office Archegos Capital Management, LP (Archegos), with orchestrating a fraudulent scheme that resulted in billions of dollars in losses. The… Read More

Resales of Restricted Securities By Non-Affiliates

Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), requires that all offers and sales of securities be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) or exempt from SEC registration. When shares have… Read More

SEC Charges 15 Individuals in a $194 Million International Penny Stock Fraud

  The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against 16 defendants, located in the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Monaco, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, for participating in multi-year fraudulent penny stock… Read More

What Is the OTC Markets Expert Market? Securities Lawyer Blog

Quotes of securities in the Expert Market are “Unsolicited Only,” which means that trades of securities subject to unsolicited quotation in the Expert Market are only available to broker-dealers, institutions and other sophisticated investors, and not average investors.   

SEC Charges Anthony Salandra in Market Manipulation Scheme

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Anthony Salandra, for his role in a market manipulation scheme in which he and several other individuals created false rumors about public companies in order to profitably trade around… Read More

SEC Obtains Final Judgments from Chrysilios Chrysiliou and Panagiotis Bolovis for Their Roles in $45 Million Fraudulent Scheme

On April 4, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered final judgments against Chrysilios Chrysiliou and Panagiotis Bolovis for their respective roles in a fraudulent scheme to gain control of Airborne Wireless… Read More

Old School Ties: Donald Trump Sues Hillary Clinton and Many of Her “Cohorts”

On March 24, 2022, as an anxious world hoped for positive results from a NATO meeting convened to address the ongoing war in Ukraine, former President Donald Trump sought to redress the harm he believes was done to… Read More

FINRA Extended Hearing Panel Expels Alpine Securities and Orders $2.3 Million in Restitution

On March 24th, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that a FINRA extended hearing panel has expelled Salt Lake City-based broker-dealer Alpine Securities Corp from FINRA membership and ordered the firm to pay more than $2.3 million in… Read More

Undercover Sting Takes Down Francis Biller, Raymond Dove, and Chester Alvarez in Boiler Room Scheme

On March 15, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced charges against five individuals for allegedly operating a call center in Medellin, Colombia, which used high-pressure sales tactics and made false and misleading statements to retail… Read More

Attorney Andrew Coldicutt faces SEC charges after getting caught in an FBI sting

On March 1, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced fraud charges against San Diego-based attorney Andrew T.E. Coldicutt for his role in a would-be pump-and-dump scheme. According to the complaint, the charges arise in part… Read More

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Former Pharmaceutical Company CEO Martin Shkreli

On February 23, 2022, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a final judgment against Martin Shkreli, the former CEO of Retrophin, Inc., a publicly-traded pharmaceutical company. The Court granted in its… Read More

SEC Charges Michael M Beck (aka BigMoneyMike) with Penny Stock Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Michael M. Beck for using his Twitter handle, @BigMoneyMike6, to deceive investors into buying penny stocks that he recommended, even though he secretly planned to sell those stocks and, in some cases,… Read More

SEC Proposes Faster Trade Settlement Times

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted on Wednesday to propose rule changes to reduce risks in the clearance and settlement of securities, including by shortening the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer transactions in securities from two business… Read More

SEC Wins Summary Judgment Against Unregistered Penny Stock Dealer Justin W Keener

On January 21, 2022, Judge Beth Bloom of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted the SEC’s motion for summary judgment against Justin W. Keener d/b/a JMJ Financial. The SEC’s complaint alleged that… Read More

Paul Pelosi Jr’s Adventures in Pennyland

In mid-January 2022, British tabloid the Daily Mail published a long story about U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s son Paul Jr, in which it was alleged that he’d been involved in a number of shady businesses, some of… Read More