SEC Charges: False Tweets Sent Two Stocks Reeling in Market Manipulation
The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed securities fraud charges against a Scottish trader whose false tweets caused sharp drops in the stock prices of two companies and triggered a trading halt in one of them. According to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in the Northern District of California, James Alan Craig of Dunragit, Scotland, tweeted multiple false statements about the two companies on Twitter accounts that he deceptively created to look like the real Twitter accounts of well-known securities research firms. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California today filed criminal charges against Craig.…
Read MoreBryan Bennett Named to Head Exam Program in Los Angeles Office
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has named Bryan Bennett to lead the examination program in its Los Angeles Regional Office. Mr. Bennett has been an assistant director in the Los Angeles examination program since January. In his new role, he will oversee the SEC’s exam program in Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, and Guam with a staff of approximately 60 examiners, accountants and attorneys. Mr. Bennett joined the SEC’s Los Angeles office in 2008 as an examiner and later was named an exam manager, leading numerous teams in the investment adviser and investment company examination program. …
Read MoreSEC Announces Whistleblower Award of More Than $325,000
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a whistleblower award totaling more than $325,000 for a former investment firm employee who tipped the agency with specific information that enabled enforcement staff to open an investigation and uncover the extent of the fraudulent activity. The whistleblower provided a detailed description of the misconduct and specifically identified individuals behind the wrongdoing to help the SEC bring a successful enforcement action. The whistleblower waited until after leaving the firm to come forward to the SEC, however, and agency officials say the award could have been higher had this whistleblower not hesitated. “Corporate insiders…
Read MoreSEC Identifies More Alleged Corrupt Brokers in Stock Manipulation Case
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced it has identified three additional individuals to charge in a penny stock manipulation case the agency filed last year against alleged corrupt brokers and others. The SEC filed a request in federal court in Brooklyn to lift the stay in its civil action for the purposes of filing an amended complaint alleging that two additional brokers, Michael Morris and Ronald Heineman, facilitated the scheme through their brokerage firm while a third man, attorney Darren Ofsink, profited illegally by selling unregistered shares for which no registration exemption applied. “Brokers serve important gatekeeping functions in…
Read MoreSEC Charges Private Equity Firm and Four Executives With Failing to Disclose Conflicts of Interest
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that a New York-based private equity firm and four executives have agreed to settle charges that they failed to disclose conflicts of interest to a fund client and investors when fund and portfolio company assets were used for payments to former firm employees and an affiliated entity. An SEC investigation found that Fenway Partners LLC, principals Peter Lamm and William Gregory Smart, former principal Timothy Mayhew Jr., and chief financial officer Walter Wiacek weren’t fully forthcoming to the client and investors about several transactions involving more than $20 million in payments out of…
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