SEC Charges Clifton Stanley in Multimillion Dollar Ponzi Scheme Targeting Seniors

On April 6, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Clifton Stanley in a $2.4 million Ponzi scheme and in a related, $1.4 million offering fraud targeting retirees. The SEC’s complaint alleges that, from 2010 to 2017, Clifton… Read More

Capital Cove Bancorp LLC and Christopher Lee aka Rashid Khalfani Charged with Defrauding Investors to Pay Over $3.8 Million

On April 11, 2018, a federal district court has ordered Christopher Lee aka Rashid Khalfani, whom the Securities and Exchange Commission charged in 2015 with pocketing money raised from investors, to pay over $3.8 million in disgorgement and… Read More

SEC Charges Saverio Barbera with Insider Trading

On April 5, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Saverio Barbera with tipping his brother and father with material nonpublic information about an upcoming corporate acquisition. The SEC’s complaint, filed in the United States District Court for… Read More

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Merrill Robertson Charged With Running $10 Million Fraud

On April 5, 2018, a federal district court in Richmond, Virginia has entered a final judgment against Merrill Robertson, Jr., a former football player charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with defrauding investors, including coaches he knew from his… Read More

SEC Charges John Jumper with Stealing Millions from a Pension Plan

On April 18, 2018 the Securities and Exchange Commission charged John Jumper with stealing approximately $5.7 million from a Pennsylvania company’s pension plan. According to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in Memphis, Tennessee, on three separate… Read More

Shane Fleming Charged with Insider Trading

On September 29, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Shane Fleming, a middleman tipper, and six traders with insider trading ahead of the announcement that the company would be purchased and taken private. In a complaint filed… Read More

SEC Charges Michael Scronic with Engaging in Ponzi-like Scheme

On April 4, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Michael Scronic with fraud stemming from lies to retail investors about the value of their investments in a Ponzi-like scheme. The SEC alleges that, starting in approximately 2010,… Read More

SEC Charges Michael Liberty with Fraudulent Scheme to Defraud Investors and Misappropriate Funds

On April 4, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Michael Liberty, the founder of the fintech startup now known as Mozido, Inc., with a fraudulent scheme to trick hundreds of investors into investing in his shell companies… Read More

Court Grants Summary Judgment Motion against Iftikar Ahmed

On March 29, 2018, a federal district court in Connecticut granted the SEC’s motion for summary judgment as to the liability of Iftikar Ahmed alleged to have fraudulently diverted money from the venture capital funds he advised. The… Read More

SEC Charges Amrit Chahal with Fraud

On April 16, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Amrit Chahal with orchestrating an investment scheme over several years. The SEC’s complaint alleges that, from at least February 2015, Amrit Chahal, of Fairfax, Va., used his company,… Read More

SEC Detects William Gennity and Rocco Roveccio Defrauding Customers

On September 28, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged William Gennity and Rocco Roveccio with making unsuitable recommendations that resulted in substantial losses to customers and hefty commissions for the brokers. One of the brokers agreed to… Read More

Christopher Lollar Settles Charges of Insider Trading Ahead of Oil Discovery Announcement

On April 4, 2018, Christopher Lollar has agreed to settle SEC charges that he conducted insider trading ahead of a market-moving announcement about the company’s discovery of a significant new oil source. The SEC alleges in its complaint,… Read More

Beware of Custodianship Shells and Reverse Mergers

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) says it doesn’t like over-the-counter shell companies especially when reverse mergers are involved, and would like to see them gone from the marketplace.  To that end, its Enforcement Division cooked up an… Read More

Going Public Bootcamp – Going Public Attorneys – Securities Lawyer 101

  The going public process involves a number of steps that vary depending on the characteristics of the private company wishing to go public, and whether it will become subject to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) reporting … Read More

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Vincent Cassano Charged with Fraudulent Stock Promotion Scheme

On April 10, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington entered a final judgment against Vincent Cassano for his role in a fraudulent stock promotion scheme. According to the SEC’s complaint, Lidingo Holdings, LLC hired… Read More

JH Darbie Charged in Calissio Resources Scam – Securities Lawyer 101

    On March 27, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a settled administrative proceeding against broker-dealer J.H. Darbie & Co., Inc., and Robert Y. Rabinowitz, Darbie’s majority owner and CEO.  On its surface, the suit… Read More

William Schantz and Verto Capital Management LLC Settle Claims for Additional Investments in Scheme Involving Life Settlements

On February 27, 2018, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey entered an amended judgment against Verto Capital Management LLC and William Schantz, of Moorestown, New Jersey. Verto Capital Management LLC and William Schantz… Read More

SEC Charges Charlie Chen and Shui Foon Mok in Multi-Year Trading Scheme

On April 5, 2018, The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Charlie Chen for making an extraordinarily profitable series of unlawful trades in the securities of Massachusetts-based VistaPrint, N.V. According to the SEC’s complaint, Charlie Chen used private information… Read More

Mohammed Rashid Charged With Secretly Billing Clients for His Vacations and Salon Visits

On October 25, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Mohammed Rashid, a former senior partner at Apollo Management L.P., with defrauding his fund clients by secretly billing them for approximately $290,000 in personal expenditures, including his family… Read More

Which Companies Are Eligible for Regulation A + Offerings?

A correctly designed Regulation A Offering Program can minimize your financial risk and significantly enhance your ability to raise money, but not how you may think.  Both issuers and selling shareholders can benefit from Regulation A +.  A… Read More

Regulation A+ -v- Form S-1 Registration By: Regulation A Attorneys

The SEC radically changed Regulation A for smaller companies desiring to raise money by going public.  This seismic shift is called Regulation A+.  In this blog post, we will explain how new Regulation A+ can work for you, making it easier to raise money and significantly lowering costs of going and staying public.

SEC Charges Marc Tager and Jersey Consulting with Defrauding Investors in “Soil Remediation” Scam

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against Marc Andrew Tager and Jersey Consulting LLC, a Utah-based company and several solicitors of the company’s securities in an ongoing offering fraud that has already targeted more than 80 individual… Read More

SEC Charges Beaufort Securities for Manipulative Trading in Microcap Penny Stocks

On March 2, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission The SEC announced securities fraud charges against Beaufort Securities, a U.K.-based broker-dealer and its investment manager in connection with manipulative trading in the securities a U.S.-based microcap issuer.  The… Read More

What SEC Disclosure Is Required By Section 17(b) For Investor Relations Firms?

Section 17(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 requires anyone who advertises a stock, even if he does not purport to offer the security for sale to disclose the “consideration received or to be received, directly or indirectly,… Read More

Americrude Charged by SEC – Posted by Brenda Hamilton, Securities Attorney

On March 8, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Americrude, Inc. a Dallas-based oil-and-gas company and two of its executives with defrauding investors out of at least $950,000 through a string of fraudulent oil-and-gas securities offerings. The… Read More

SEC Charges Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos Inc – Securities Lawyers

On March 14, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Elizabeth Holmes and  Silicon Valley-based private company Theranos Inc., with raising more than $700 million from investors through an elaborate, years-long fraud scheme in which they exaggerated or made… Read More

SEC Charges Jon E. Montroll and Bitfunder with Bitcoin Fraud

On February 21, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged a former bitcoin-denominated platform known as BitFunder and its operator with operating an unregistered securities exchange and defrauding users of that Bitcoin exchange. The SEC also charged the… Read More

SEC Charges Niket Shah and Spark Trading for Targeting Retail Investors

On March 23rd the Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges and a preliminary injunction and asset freeze against Niket Shah, a New Jersey resident who it alleges stole more than $250,000 in a Ponzi scheme in which his… Read More

EDGAR Filer, Robert W. Murray Sentenced to Two Years in Fitbit Stock Manipulation Scheme

On March 9, 2018,  Robert W. Murray was sentenced to two years imprisonment in connection with a scheme to manipulate Fitbit securities through false filings on the SEC’s EDGAR system. Murray pled guilty on November 7, 2017. The criminal charges… Read More

SEC Charges McKinley Mortgage with Scheme to Defraud – Posted by Brenda Hamilton

One March 22nd the Securities and Exchange Commission announced settled charges against McKinley Mortgage, the operators of a real estate investment business who engaged in a years-long scheme to bilk hundreds of investors – including many retail investors… Read More