On December 12, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged J.H. Darbie & Co., Inc., a New York City-based brokerage firm, with failing to report suspicious activity related to transactions in tens of billions of shares of low-priced securities – or “penny stocks” – that were traded in over-the-cou…
Read MoreOn August 25, 2022, Joseph Padilla was arrested at the San Diego International Airport in connection with his alleged involvement in a sophisticated securities fraud scheme that generated over $7 million in illicit proceeds. Padilla, 53, of Carlsbad, Calif., was charged in the United States District Court District of Massachusetts (Boston) with one count of…
Read MoreOn October 4, 2022, SEC Defendant and FBI fugitive Justin Costello was arrested by an FBI SWAT team. Costello had been on the run from authorities as a fugitive since September 29th after failing to surrender to authorities after being charged with 22 counts of wire fraud and 3 counts of securities fraud as part […]
Read MoreOn October 3, 2022, the SEC Division of Enforcement entered into a settlement of charges with Kimberly Kardashian (“Kardashian” or “Respondent”). The SEC Offer of Settlement (the “Offer”) includes findings that: On June 13, 2021, Kim Kardashian—a well-known media personality and businesswoman—touted a crypto asset security on social media that was being offe…
Read MoreSince Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) completed its going public transaction in August 2005 on the NASDAQ Stock Market, many U.S. investors have found themselves fascinated and frustrated by Chinese companies. Baidu, a technology giant and AI developer offering, among many other things, the world’s second-largest search engine, has been a winner overall. But not all publ…
Read MoreOn August 15, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged 18 individuals and entities for their roles in a fraudulent scheme in which dozens of online retail brokerage accounts were hacked and improperly used to purchase microcap stocks to manipulate the price and trading volume of those stocks. Those charged include Rahim Mohamed [&hell…
Read MoreOn August 10, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged broker-dealer Alpine Securities Corporation, its former Chief Executive Officer Christopher Doubek, and its current Chief Operations Officer Joseph Walsh with engaging in a series of unauthorized securities transactions. According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in…
Read MoreAugust 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 of retail investors worldwide, including in the United States. Those charged include the four founders of Forsage, [&h…
Read MoreOn 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”) for a scheme that allegedly raised at least $40 m…
Read MoreOn 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 Bendelac and Thomas Capellini in connection with a securities fraud…
Read MoreOn 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. Lachow (collectively, the Defendants) to halt ongoing securities violations, includ…
Read MoreOn 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. According to the SEC’s complaint, in or around February 2012, Forster gained control…
Read MoreThe 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 schemes that generated more than $194 million in illicit proceeds. The SEC invest…
Read MoreOn 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 from an undercover operation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which also resulte…
Read MoreOn Wednesday, October 13, 2021, a federal jury in Cheyenne returned guilty verdicts against a Pennsylvania man and two Florida men related to a stock fraud involving NuTech Energy Resources Inc., a company that claimed to operate coalbed-methane wells in Wyoming. Justin Herman, 50, of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and Charles “Chuck” Winters Jr., 61, of Bradento…
Read MoreAcross 2016–2020, enforcement actions centered on insider trading, offering frauds (including Ponzi‑like schemes), microcap promotion/manipulation, disclosure and internal‑controls failures, gatekeeper lapses, and emerging digital‑asset matters. Remedies frequently included disgorgement, penalties, injunctions, and penny‑stock or officer/director bars.
Read MoreOn September 24, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Carebourn Capital, L.P. and its managing partner Chip Rice of Maple Grove, Minnesota, with acting as unregistered securities dealers in connection with their buying and selling of billions of newly-issued shares of microcap securities, or “penny stocks,” whi…
Read MoreOn September 15, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) awarded approximately $110 million to a whistleblower whose information and assistance led to successful SEC and related actions. With the award, the SEC’s whistleblower program has now paid more than $1 billion in awards to 209 whistleblowers, including over $500 mil…
Read MoreOn September 1, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it filed an action against Alexander Kon, a penny stock promoter and resident of Overland Park, Kansas, seeking an order directing him to comply with investigative subpoenas for documents and testimony. According to the SEC’s filing in U.S. District Court for the Southern Distr…
Read MoreIn 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) stepped up its efforts to reel in “toxic lenders”: individuals who profit enormously by buying convertible securities in penny stock companies and selling the shares they obtain upon conversion of their promissory notes, warrants or preferred stock. Since those conversions usually take p…
Read MoreOn July 29, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey entered a default judgment against Oleksandr Ieremenko and Andrey Sarafanov, who were charged in connection with a scheme to trade on nonpublic earnings information hacked from the SEC’s EDGAR system. The SEC’s complaint alleged that Ieremenko, a Ukrainian hacker, g…
Read MoreOn July 22, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) filed an emergency action charging California resident Charlie Abujudeh with running microcap fraud schemes targeting retail investors. According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Abujudeh worked with others from…
Read MoreToday, July 15, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged the former CEO and CFO of FTE Networks, Inc. (“FTE”), a network infrastructure company formerly based in Naples, Florida, with conducting a multi-year accounting fraud. The alleged scheme involved inflating the company’s revenues for certain periods…
Read MoreIt can be the worst feeling in the world. You wake up, get your trading station all ready for a new day of profitable trading, but then the unthinkable happens. The market opens, but not that volatile issuer that had been running big, making your trading account look so good.
Read MoreOn May 19, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged a New Jersey-based healthcare company and its founder, Josiah David (formerly known as Dennis Lee), with fraudulently raising nearly $4 million from over 130 investors nationwide through the sale of membership units in the company.
Read MoreOn Friday, May 14, 2021, David C Coggins, 42, of Miami, was sentenced to 51 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $1,305,000 in restitution for operating an investment scheme in which he used investor funds to repay other investors and misappropriated funds for himself, including to pay for personal use, a vehicle…
Read MoreAccording to a statement posted on the TD Ameritrade website, the popular trading platform will restrict orders in Caveat Emptor designated OTC securities to liquidating trades only starting May 25, 2021.
Read MoreAccording to the annual report published by the Division of Enforcement of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), there were 715 overall enforcement actions in fiscal 2020, down 17% from the previous year. Despite the slow down, financial remedies ordered “set a new high,” according to Stephanie Avakian, the agency’s enforcement chief. T…
Read MoreLast week, E*TRADE, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, which offers an electronic trading platform to trade financial assets including common stocks, announced that effective November 21, 2020, customers will no longer be able to open positions in Caveat Emptor securities due to the risks associated with trading shares in these companies.
Read MoreOn November 13, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced an award of over $1.1 million to a whistleblower whose independent analysis led the staff to look at new conduct during an ongoing investigation.
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