AVEO Pharmaceuticals Misleads Investors About FDA Approval of New Drug
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges against a Massachusetts-based biotech company and three former executives for misleading investors about the company’s efforts to obtain Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its flagship developmental drug to… Read More
SEC Charges John Bivona and Saddle River Advisors with Fraud
On March 25, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced fraud charges and asset freezes obtained in a case filed against a New Jersey-based fund manager and two firms he controls that marketed shares in promising pre-IPO tech… Read More
SEC Enters Settlement with Perpetrators of an Alleged Hacked News Release Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on March 24, 2016 that it had entered into settlement agreements, subject to court approval, with defendants David Amaryan, Copperstone Alpha Fund, Copperstone Capital, Intertrade Pacific SA, Ocean Prime Inc., Guibor… Read More
Court Finds Leon Parvizian and His Two Companies Liable on All Counts for Oil and Gas Fraud
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on March 24, 2016 that a federal court in Texas found promoters of fraudulent oil and gas investments liable all counts. The Honorable Ed Kinkeade of the United States District Judge for… Read More
Court Enters Judgments Custodianship Shell Amogear Stock Scheme
On March 23, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that the federal court in Boston, Massachusetts entered judgments by consent against Andrew Affa, Michael Affa, Mitchell Brown, Christopher Putnam, and Christopher Nix in a fraud action… Read More
Court Enters Nearly $2 Million Judgment Against Gregory Jones for Defrauding Investors
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on March 23, 2016 that a federal court has ordered a nearly $2 million judgment from an attorney who admitted to defrauding investors in two fraudulent schemes. The Honorable John McBryde,… Read More
Court Enters Final Judgment Against Fraudster Bruce Strebinger
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on March 21, 2016 that on March 15, 2016, the Honorable Leigh Martin May of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia entered a final judgment against defendant Bruce… Read More
SEC Charges Mark Jones for a Ponzi Scheme Purporting to Offer “Bridge Loans” to Jamaican Businesses
On March 15, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged former Boston resident Mark Jones with operating a $10 million Ponzi scheme that claimed to generate profits from “bridge loans” to businesses in Jamaica. The SEC… Read More
CEO of RVPlus Charged with Soliciting Fake Contracts with Foreign Governments
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a microcap company CEO for falsely claiming to have a lucrative relationship with the United Nations and billions of dollars in clean energy contracts with foreign governments. The SEC alleges that… 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
SEC Enters Settlement Agreement with Concorde Bermuda Ltd.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it entered into a settlement agreement, subject to court approval, with Ukrainian-based Concorde Bermuda Ltd. (Concorde) in a case alleging a scheme to trade on hacked news releases. On August 10,… Read More
Court Enters Final Judgment Against CEO of Polycom
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on January 26, 2016, the Honorable Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California entered a final judgment against Andrew Miller, the former CEO… Read More
Court Issues Asset Freeze Over Sedona Oil and Its President
On January 21, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an emergency civil action against a Dallas company, Sedona Oil and Gas Corporation and its president, Kenneth “Kenny” Crumbley, Jr., to stop their allegedly fraudulent offer and… Read More
SEC Charges Robert Crowe for Joining a Pay-to-Play Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint against Robert Crowe, a law firm partner who worked as a fundraiser and lobbyist for State Street Bank and Trust Company. The complaint alleges that Crowe participated in a… Read More
SEC Obtains Judgment Against Steven Davis
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on January 8, 2016, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a judgment against defendant Steven Davis. The judgment resolves all issues of liability… Read More
Court Issues Final Judgment Against Auditor Timothy Quintanilla
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that, on December 4, 2015, the Court for the Southern District of New York issued a final judgment, on consent of defendant Timothy Quintanilla, which permanently enjoined him from violating… Read More
Jehu Hand Charged with Market Manipulation Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a California-licensed attorney and a stock promoter behind a pump-and-dump scheme that defrauded investors in Greenway Technology, a Las Vegas-based company purporting to operate resorts for gay and lesbian travelers. The… Read More