Woodbridge Ordered to Produce Corporate Documents
On September 21, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) obtained an order requiring the Woodbridge Group of Companies LLC, of Sherman Oaks, California, to produce the corporate documents of several company executives and employees, including the President and CEO…. Read More
Mayank Gupta Settles Insider Trading Charges
On September 13, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Mayank Gupta, a former auditor, has agreed to settle charges that he tipped his relative with inside information about a client on the verge of a… Read More
Vergeous LLC, et al. Charged with Offering Fraud
On August 16, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Vergeous LLC and Dream Team Partners LLC, two Florida-based video game development companies, and their principal have agreed to pay approximately $293,000 for misleading investors in video game… Read More
Michael Trahan Charged for Insider Trading
On June 7, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced fraud charges against Michael Trahan for insider trading in the securities of The Shaw Group, Inc. (Shaw), a Louisiana-based energy construction company, ahead of a public announcement that… Read More
Final Judgement on Former InterMune Director and Friend
On June 30, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that the Honorable Jacqueline Scott Corley, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California, entered a final judgment as to Sasan Sabrdaran, the former director of drug… Read More
Lawson Financial Corporation Settles Fraud Charges
On April 5, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Lawson Financial Corporation, an Arizona-based brokerage firm, its CEO, and its former underwriter’s counsel have agreed to settle charges related to municipal bond offerings they were underwriting… Read More
Desarrolladora Homex Settle Fraud Charges
On March 3, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Mexico-based homebuilding company Desarrolladora Homex S.A.B. de C.V. has agreed to settle charges that it reported fake sales of more than 100,000 homes to boost revenues in… Read More
Axesstel Fails to Comply with Exchange Act
On April 24, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) deemed it necessary and appropriate for the protection of investors that public administrative proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted pursuant to Section 12(j) of the Securities Exchange Act… Read More
Jay Hatton Submits Offer of Settlement
Jay Hatton (CRD #1725472, Edinburgh, Indiana) submitted an Offer of Settlement in which he was assessed a deferred fine of $10,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for two years. Without admitting or… Read More
FBI Informant Guy Gentile’s Indictment Is Tossed by the Judge
Guy Gentile Gets Good News On January 30, 2017, brokerage firm owner Guy Gentile got the good news he’d been hoping for: Judge Jose Linares of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey had… Read More
Final Judgment Entered Against Gregg Mulholland Posted by Brenda Hamilton
On January 11, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a final judgment against defendant Gregg R. Mulholland, a penny stock promoter charged in an SEC action with illegally selling more than… Read More
General Cable Corporation Settles FCPA Charges – Posted by Brenda Hamilton
Posted by Brenda Hamilton One December 29, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Kentucky-based General Cable Corporation agreed to pay more than $75 million to resolve parallel SEC and U.S. Department of Justice investigations related to its violations… Read More
Stanley Fortenberry Pleads Guilty to $900,000 Fraud
On November 18, 2016, Stanley Jonathan Fortenberry (a/k/a S.J., John, or Johnny Fortenberry) of San Angelo, Texas, pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with obstruction of justice and other charges in connection with two investment companies he ran that… Read More
Lime Energy Co. and Four Execs Charged with Accounting Fraud
On October 17, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Lime Energy Co., an energy services provider and four of its executives for their roles in an accounting fraud in which the company recognized revenue earlier than allowed… Read More
Robert Gadimian Charged with Insider Trading
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) today charged the former senior director of regulatory affairs for Puma Biotechnology with insider trading ahead of the company’s news announcements about a drug to treat breast cancer. The SEC alleges that… Read More
RPM International Charged with Disclosure and Accounting Failures
On September 9, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Ohio-based chemical company RPM International Inc. and its General Counsel, Edward Moore, with failing to disclose a material loss contingency, or record an accrual for, a government… Read More
Guy Gentile Says FBI Double-Crossed Him
Stockbroker Guy Gentile was flying high as 2012 began. In January, he gave an interview to the Nassau Guardian in which he predicted wild success for his new Bahamas brokerage, SureTrader, a division of Swiss America Securities, Ltd.,… Read More
Court Enters Final Judgment Against Jilbert Tahmazian in an Antifraud Action
On August 26, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California entered a final judgment against Jilbert Tahmazian, an attorney licensed in California, ordering him to pay $196,524 to settle an antifraud action filed by… Read More
Operation Bermuda Short In Retrospect
Many penny stocks have bad histories, or are associated with questionable players. Only last December, convicted felon Edward Durante was civilly and criminally charged in a securities fraud and manipulation scheme he’d embarked upon immediately after leaving prison… Read More
Daniel and Matthew Rivera Charged for Running a Ponzi Scheme Directed at Seniors
On March 24, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged two brothers, and a company that they founded purportedly to develop and sell real estate, with engaging in a $2.7 million Ponzi scheme that targeted approximately 30,… Read More
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
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
Court Approves Summary Judgment Against Stewart Merkin
On January 13, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed entry of summary judgment in favor of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on its claims of securities fraud against defendant Stewart Merkin… Read More
Cry Me a Sater…Felix Sater & Donald Trump
In February 2015, Felix Sater proudly announced the debut of a new website. As he puts it, it “showcases [his] accomplishments, contributions, musings, and availability.” Though Sater describes himself as a veteran of the commercial real estate… 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
FINRA Expels Halcyon Cabot Partners
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it has expelled Halcyon Cabot Partners, Ltd., and barred Chief Executive Officer Michael Morris and Chief Compliance Officer Ronald Heineman from the securities industry, for securities fraud, sales practice… Read More
Aegis Capital Corporation fined $950,000 By FINRA
Aegis Capital Corporation has been fined $950,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority over allegations of improper sales of unregistered penny stocks of five issuers and anti-money laundering supervisory failures. As a result, Aegis is also required to… Read More
Disclosure Obligations in Regulation A+ Offerings
The Anti-Fraud Provisions And Regulation A+ On March 25, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted final rules amending Regulation A. The new rules are often referred to as Regulation A+. These rules are designed to facilitate smaller companies’ access to… Read More
Regulation A+ Adds Two New Bad Actor Disqualification Triggers
The final Regulation A+ rules amend Rule 262 to include bad actor disqualification provisions as adopted under Rule 506(d) of Regulation D. Consistent with the disqualification provisions of Rule 506(d), the final rules add two additional disqualification triggers… Read More
A Tale of Two Stings: The Amogear and CitySide Reverse Merger
Down the Rabbit Hole We Go Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts charged against five individuals whose attempt to manipulate shares of Amogear Inc. was caught in an… Read More
