5 Star Commercial, 5 Star Capital, and Operator Earl Miller Charged with Fraud
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on November 5, 2015 an emergency enforcement action was filed in federal district court against Earl Miller (Miller) and two private investment vehicles that he controlled, 5 Star Commercial, LLC… Read More
SEC Charges EB-5 Offering Attorneys – Securities Lawyer 101
On December 7, 2015 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a series of enforcement actions against lawyers across the country charged with offering EB-5 investments while not registered to act as brokers. In one case, a lawyer and his firm… Read More
Zhichen Zhou and Yannan Liu Charged with Insider Trading
On November 10, 2015 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced insider trading charges and an emergency asset freeze against cousins Zhichen Zhou and Yannan Liu. The SEC alleged that the Defendants traded in advance of the acquisition of… Read More
Judgment Entered Against James Louks and FiberPop Solutions
On November 9, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on November 4, 2015 the Court entered a partial judgment against James Louks and FiberPop Solutions, Inc. (FiberPop). FiberPop and Louks, founder, President, CEO, Director, and Chairman… Read More
SEC Complaint Charges For Phony Muddy Waters Tweets
On November 6, 2015, the SEC announced that it charged James Alan Craig (Craig) with a market manipulation scheme. The SEC filed criminal securities fraud charges against Craig, a Scottish trader whose phony tweets caused sharp drops in the… Read More
Court Approves Insurance Company’s Final Distribution
On September 30, 2015 the Court approved final distribution that concluded the receivership in the SEC’s litigation against Provident Capital Indemnity, Ltd. The litigation was ended by the Court’s order and was settled with the last remaining defendant,… Read More
Vlad Spivnak Charged with Insider Trading
The SEC has announced charges against Vlad Spivnak for insider trading in the stock of American Dental Partners, Inc. (ADPI), a dental practice management company. The complaint alleges that Spivnak received the private information from his girlfriend at the time, Shirmila Doddi, who… Read More
William Apostelos and His Companies Charged with Fraud
The SEC released charges on October 30, 2015 alleging that William Apostelos and his companies, WMA Enterprises, Midwest Green Resources, and OVO Wealth Management conducted a fraudulent investment scheme. The complaint claims that the companies raised at least… Read More
Diverse Financial and Principals Charged with Fraud
The SEC filed fraud charges against Diverse Financial Corporation, its CEO, Roy Dekel, and its former President David Kendell on October 28, 2015. The complaint claims that the defendants raised about $3.29 million from at least 16 investors through… Read More
SEC Obtains Asset Freeze Over Joseph Gabalon
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil action against defendants Ascenergy LLC and its CEO, Joseph Gabaldon for offering fraudulent oil and gas investments. At the request of the SEC, the U.S. District Court for the District of… Read More
Rebecca Norton Insider Trading Settlement Approved
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that, on October 27, 2015, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona entered a settled final judgment against Rebecca Norton, the remaining defendant in SEC v. Mary Beth… Read More
Brown Investment Advisors Charged with Operating Three Offering Frauds
A settled civil injunctive action was filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against two Pennsylvania investment advisers, Kevin Brown and his father, George Brown, (collectively, the “Browns”), and several entities they managed, for conducting three offering frauds over the… Read More
John Williams Charged with Conducting Misappropriation Scheme and Offering Fraud
On October 20, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged John Clifford Williams with his involvement in a misappropriation scheme. The complaint alleges that Williams misappropriated and diverted more than $3.1 million illicit funds that he accumulated from… Read More
Court Reaches Final Judgement of Disgorgement and Civil Penalties Against Stock Fraudsters
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on October 26, 2015 that on October 23, 2015, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a final judgment against two fraudsters, Joseph Catapano and… Read More
Settlement Reached in Vladimir Eydelman Insider Trading Case
On October 23, 2015 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a settlement with a stockbroker who was previously charged with insider trading in advance of over a dozen pending corporate transactions. These charges found Vladimir Eydelman guilty of insider trading and claims… Read More
Keeping A Close Watch On Equity Crowdfunding
With equity crowdfunding now legal, we can expect to see the Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) keeping a close watch for unregistered broker dealers and funding portals. In an administrative proceeding a few weeks ago, the SEC ordered… Read More
Donald Lester and His Private Firm Charged with Fraud
On October 16, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed fraud and other charges against Donald Lester and his private equity firm, Rubicon Alliance, LLC (“Rubicon”). According to the SEC’s fraud complaint, from about January 2010 through December… Read More
Hedge Fund Manager Lonny Bernath Charged with Fraud
On October 13, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a hedge fund manager from Charlotte, Lonny Bernath, with defrauding investors in three hedge funds over several years. The SEC filed a complaint stating that between at least… Read More
SEC Obtains Summary Judgment Against Andrew Farmer in Pump-And-Dump Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on October 9, 2015, that on October 7, 2015, it secured a summary judgment on all of its claims against Andrew Farmer in a market manipulation case involving the securities of Chimera… Read More
SEC Charges Nicolas Zanen and His Friend with Insider Trading
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on October 9, 2015 that it has charged Nicolas Zanen, Vice President of Trading at a subsidiary of Cheniere Energy, Inc., and his college friend, Francis van Steenberge, with insider trading in… Read More
SEC Wins Summary Judgment Against Allen Smith
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on October 8, 2015 that Judge Paul Barbadoro of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire entered summary judgment in favor of the SEC on its claims… Read More
SEC Obtains Final Judgments Against Operators of a Ponzi Scheme
On October 8, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that the Court entered final judgments on September 28, 2015, against Garfield Taylor, Jeffrey King, Garfield Taylor, Inc. (“GTI”), Gibraltar Asset Management Group, LLC (“Gibraltar”) and The… Read More
SEC Charges Steve Chen With Fraud and Imposes Asset Freeze
On September 22, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed, under seal, fraud charges and, on September 28, obtained asset freezes against the operator of a worldwide pyramid scheme that falsely promised investors would profit from a… Read More
Final Judgement Entered Against Amyot And Spencer Pharmaceutical
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced October 1, 2015 that on September 30, 2015, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued an order setting final judgments in an enforcement action filed in December 2012 against… Read More
Ranjan Mendonsa and Ammar Akbari Charged with Insider Trading
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on October 1, 2015 that on September 28, 2015, the Honorable Haywood Gilliam of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California entered a final judgement against defendants Ranjan Mendonsa… Read More
Charles Riel and REinvest LLC Charged with Securities Fraud
On September 29, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a company and its manager with securities fraud of their investors by promising them outlandish “low risk” investment returns and then misusing the investors’ money to, among other… Read More
Jose Ramirez Charged by the SEC for Conducting Fraudulent Scheme
On September 29, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Jose Ramirez, a former top broker at UBS Financial Services Incorporated of Puerto Rico (“UBSPR”), who made material misrepresentations and omissions and conducted a fraudulent scheme that… Read More
Oil and Gas Company and Boiler Room Operator Charged
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on October 1, 2015 fraud charges against an Orange County, Calif. oil and gas company, its CEO, and an Arizona-based boiler room operator. The SEC claims Commodore Financial Corporation, CEO Christopher Schlegel,… Read More
SEC Files Charges Against Ralph Pirtle and Morando Berrettini for Insider Trading
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on September 25, 2015 that on September 24, 2015, a jury in federal district court in Chicago, Illinois, returned a verdict finding Ralph J. Pirtle and Morando Berrettini responsible for insider… Read More
SEC Charges GenAudio and CEO With Fraudulent Stock Offerings
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil injunctive action on September 25, 2015, in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado relating to the fraudulent offer and sale of stock in GenAudio, Inc. The SEC… Read More
