Donna Esau Named Associate Regional Director for Examinations in Atlanta Regional Office
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the promotion of Donna Esau to Associate Regional Director for Examinations in the agency's Atlanta Regional Office. Ms. Esau will direct a staff of approximately 40 accountants, examiners, and attorneys responsible for the examination of broker-dealers, investment companies, investment advisers, and transfer agents across five southeastern states (Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee). She will assume her new post Aug. 6. "Donna is a very strong and experienced leader and manager. She has excellent technical skills, and understands the firms and capital markets which we regulate. Donna also understands the risks…
Read MoreOverseas Stock Manipulator Settles SEC Charges
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that an overseas stock manipulator has agreed to pay nearly $800,000 and be permanently barred from involvement in penny stocks after hiding his significant stake in a small oil & gas company while secretly funding a fraudulent promotional campaign that artificially boosted the company’s stock price before he dumped his shares. SEC enforcement investigators uncovered the fraud by peeling back layer upon layer of shell companies and nominee owners to reveal that Joe Yiu Cheung controlled United American Petroleum Corp. (UAPC). According to the SEC’s order, Cheung utilized an elaborate network of overseas…
Read MoreSEC Files Charges to Stop Fraudulent Misuse of Cancer-Fighting Investments to Fund Restaurant Businesses
The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed charges to stop an alleged ongoing fraud by a Massachusetts businessman misusing investments intended for the development of cancer diagnostic tests to instead pay personal expenses and fund his fiancée’s restaurant businesses. According to the SEC’s complaint, Patrick Muraca established two pharmaceutical development companies and raised nearly $1.2 million by representing to investors that their money would be used to develop products to detect cancer and other diseases. The SEC has traced the flow of investor funds into Muraca’s personal bank account and alleges that at least $400,000 has been used to pay…
Read MoreSEC Files Fraud Charges Against Former Brokers Targeting Federal Retirees
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged four former Atlanta-area brokers with fraudulently inducing federal employees to roll over holdings from their federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) retirement accounts into higher-fee, variable annuity products. The SEC’s enforcement action comes at a time when the agency has been focusing more specifically on brokers’ and advisers’ interactions with senior investors, and others investing for retirement, through the ReTIRE initiative of the agency’s national exam program and the work of the Broker-Dealer Task Force in its Enforcement Division. The SEC’s complaint charges an entity called Federal Employee Benefits Counselors through which the brokers…
Read MoreSEC Announces Whistleblower Award of More Than $1.7 Million
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a whistleblower award of more than $1.7 million to a company insider who provided the agency with critical information to help stop a fraud that would have otherwise been difficult to detect. Millions of dollars were returned to harmed investors as a result of the SEC’s ensuing investigation and enforcement action. ''When whistleblowers tip the SEC, it not only can bring wrongdoers to justice but also relief to investors,'' said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. ''This whistleblower's valuable information enabled us to stop further investor harm and ultimately…
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