California Businessman Daniel Nase Stole Investor Funds and Tried to Conceal It

  On March 11, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced fraud charges against California businessman Daniel Nase, accusing him of stealing investor assets and then trying to cover it up once the SEC caught onto his… Read More

Nedko Nedev Charged for Fraudulent Scheme Related to the Stock of Avon Products

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on March 11, 2016 that a federal grand jury in Manhattan has indicted Bulgarian resident Nedko Nedev for fraud relating to the stocks of Avon Products, Inc., Tower Group… Read More

3 Executives of Aequitas Management LLC Charged with Fraud

On March 11, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged an Oregon-based investment group and three top executives with hiding the rapidly deteriorating financial condition of its enterprise while raising more than $350 million from investors. Aequitas… Read More

Do State Blue Sky Laws Apply To Regulation D Offerings?

    Issuers are sometimes unaware of the state laws that apply to offerings that are exempt under the federal securities laws. The purchase or sale of a security be subject to a registration statement under the Securities… Read More

Uni-Pixel Inc. Charged with Misleading Investors About New Touchscreen Sensor Product

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that Uni-Pixel Inc., developer of technologies for touchscreen devices, has agreed to pay $750,000 to settle charges that it misled investors about the production status and sales agreements for a key product…. Read More

SEC Charges Jay Fung with Insider Trading in the Stock of Pharmasset Inc.

On March 9, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that a Florida man trading on inside information ahead of a pharmaceutical company merger and a friend who tipped him have agreed to settle enforcement actions against… Read More

Court Denies Motion to Reconsider Summary Judgment Against June Fujinaga

On March 4, 2016, the Honorable James C. Mahan, United States District Judge for the District of Nevada, entered an order denying a motion for reconsideration of the final judgment filed by relief defendants June Fujinaga and her… Read More

SEC Charges Banc de Binary with Acting as an Unregistered Broker-Dealer

The SEC filed a complaint in 2013 against Banc de Binary Ltd, its founder Oren Shabat Laurent, and three affiliates that operate an Internet-based based trading platform for “binary options.” One of these websites is www.bbinary.com. The SEC’s… Read More

Wells Fargo and Rhode Island Agency Charged with Fraud

On March 7, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a Rhode Island agency and its bond underwriter Wells Fargo Securities with defrauding investors in a municipal bond offering to finance startup video game company 38 Studios…. Read More

Court Reaches Verdict Against Daryl Payton and Benjamin Durant for Insider Trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has obtained a jury verdict in its favor in a federal district court trial in Manhattan against Daryl Payton and Benjamin Durant, III, who the agency charged with trading on inside information… Read More

Court Enters Final Judgments Against Zachary Zwerko and David Post

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on March 1, 2016, the Honorable Richard J. Sullivan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entered final judgments on consent against defendants Zachary… Read More

Final Judgment Entered Against Nan Huang for Insider Trading

On February 26, 2016 the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued a memorandum opinion and final judgment against Nan Huang, who a jury found liable last month for insider trading on information he improperly… Read More

Court Enters Final Judgment Against Francis Canellas

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on February 24, 2016, the Honorable Valerie E. Caproni of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a judgment against defendant Francis Canellas. The… Read More

Court Enters Final Partial Judgment Against Paul Petrello for Insider Trading Scheme

The Honorable Michael A. Shipp, United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey, has entered a partial final consent judgment against defendant Paul Petrello, one of four individuals charged with engaging in an elaborate insider trading… Read More

SEC Charges TexStar Oil and Nathan Halsey with Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Nathan Halsey and TexStar Oil, Ltd. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, with fraudulently offering securities through misleading investment materials and keeping funds from investors… Read More

Court Issues Final Judgments Against Scott Valente and the ELIV Group

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on February 17, 2016, Judge Vincent L. Briccetti of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entered final judgments against Defendants Scott Valente and his… Read More

SEC Charges 9 More Defendants in Hacked News Release Scheme with Fraud

On February 18, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed fraud charges against nine defendants for taking part in an international scheme to execute profitable securities trades based on nonpublic information that computer hackers stole from at least two… Read More

Randy Hamdan Consents to Settling Market Manipulation Case

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that, on February 17, 2016, Judge Nancy Edmunds of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan entered final judgments, on the consents of defendants Randy Hamdan and Oracle Consultants,… Read More

6 Charged for Violating Antifraud Provisions of the Federal Securities Laws

On February 16, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged PV Enterprises, Inc. (“PVEC”) and Panagiotis Villiotis (“Villiotis”) with violations of the registration and antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The SEC also charged Virtual Sourcing, Inc…. Read More

Michael Affa Sentenced in Microcap Case

On February 12, 2016, a federal court in Boston, Massachusetts sentenced Michael Affa, of Toms Rivers, New Jersey, to 33 months in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of $1 million in a criminal case prosecuted by… Read More

Attorney Adam Tracy & the Nefarious World of Custodianship Shells

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) says it doesn’t like over-the-counter shell companies, and would like to see them gone from the marketplace.  To that end, its Enforcement Division cooked up an initiative it called  “Operation Shell-Expel”.  It… Read More

Wade James Lawrence Charged with Securities Fraud and Unauthorized Trading

On February 16, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Wade James Lawrence, a former investment adviser with two dually-registered securities firms, with executing unauthorized trades in his clients’ investment accounts and defrauding other individuals who tried to invest… Read More

Gregory Ruehle Charged with Defrauding Investors and Acting as an Unregistered Broker-Dealer

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged an unregistered broker in Oceanside, California with fraudulently selling purported stock in a medical device company and pocketing investors’ money. On February 10, 2016 the SEC filed fraud charges alleging that… Read More

Attorney Jilbert Tahmazian Charged with Fraud in a Prime Bank Scheme

On February 11, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Jilbert Tahmazian, a lawyer licensed in the state of California, with fraud for engaging in a prime bank scheme. Prime bank schemes involve the offer and sale of fictitious… Read More

Frank Lleras Charged with Conducting a Fraudulent Investment Scheme

On February 10, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Frank Lleras and two Charlotte, North Carolina-based companies that he controls, Optimum Income Property, LLC and Optimum Property Investments, LLC, with conducting an offering fraud lasting more… Read More

Court Enters Final Judgment Against Moazzam “Mark” Malik and Wolf Hedge LLC

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on February 9, 2016, the Court for the Southern District of New York entered a final judgment against Defendants Moazzam “Mark” Malik, a Pakistani citizen and New York City resident,… Read More

Penny Stock Issuers and Their Principals Charged with Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged two penny stock issuers and their principals with fraud for disseminating false and misleading press releases and other related documents about purported involvement in the marijuana industry. The SEC’s complaint against… Read More

Court Enters Final Judgment Against Martin Weisberg

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on January 20, 2016, the Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a final judgment against defendant Martin Weisberg. The final judgment imposes on Weisberg a permanent injunction… Read More

Insider Trading Defendant Herbert Sudfeld Found Guilty in a Related Case

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on February 5, 2016, a jury in federal court in Philadelphia returned a guilty verdict against Pennsylvania attorney Herbert Sudfeld (“Sudfeld”) in a criminal trial prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney… Read More

SEC Charges American Growth Funding II with Fraud

  On February 3, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a lending company in Manhattan, American Growth Funding II LLC and its owner, Ralph Johnson, with repeatedly lying to investors who purchased high-yield securities. The SEC… Read More