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
SEC Identifies Three More to Charge in Penny Stock Case
On November 4, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it has identified three more individuals to charge in a penny stock manipulation case that the agency filed last year against alleged corrupt brokers and others. The SEC… 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
Why Operation Shell Expel Gets an F
Published on: Nov 5, 2015 Between January of 2000 and present, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has suspended or halted thousands of publicly traded companies under its highly publicized agenda known as Operation shell Expel. Many were dormant… 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
Darren Ofsink Indicted – Securities Lawyers Gone Wild
On November 4, 2015, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York announced that Darren Ofsink, a Manhattan attorney and founder of Ofsink LLC; Michael Morris, a registered broker and managing director of Halcyon Cabot Partners, Ltd…. Read More
Default Judgment Grants Full Relief Against Premiere Power and Its Chairman in Offering Fraud
On October 21, 2015 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on October 9, 2015, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entered default judgments against Premiere Power, LLC and its Chairman,… Read More
Schedule 13D and 13G Filing Requirements Securities Lawyer 101 Q&A
Common Questions About Schedule 13D and 13G Filing Requirements For Public Companies In going public transactions, a company can register a class of securities and thereby become subject to the SEC’s reporting requirements by filing a Form 10… 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
What Is Wrong With Buying a Shell To Go Public?
Securities Lawyer 101 Blog Between January of 2000 and present, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has suspended or halted thousands of publicly traded companies. Many were dormant penny stock issuers suspended to prevent corporate hijackings by fraudsters… 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
Equity Crowdfunding Approved – Going Public Attorney
Equity Crowdfunding was adopted pursuant to Title III of the Jumpstart Our Business Act (JOBS Act). The rule allows companies to raise up to $1 million every 12 months in a crowdfunding campaign using an online funding portal or registered broker-dealer.
SEC Issues Trading Suspension of Locan & American Power Corp
On October 30, 2015, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced the temporary suspension of trading in the securities of American Power Corp. (AMPW) and Locan, Inc. (LOCN). The SEC trading suspension commenced at 9:30 a.m. EDT on… 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 Addresses Equity Crowdfunding – Going Public Attorney
On October 30, 2015, three years after The JOBS Act became law, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will vote in an Open Meeting to consider whether to: adopt rules and forms related to the offer and sale… Read More
Court Enters Default Judgment Against James Erwin and Malom Group
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on October 8, 2015 that the United States District Court for the District of Nevada entered default judgments against Las Vegas-based James Erwin and his corporate entity, Las Vegas-based Joint Venture… 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
