SEC Charges Purported Investment Adviser in San Diego With Stealing Client Funds and Conducting a Ponzi Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a purported investment adviser in San Diego with stealing money from clients for personal use and conducting a Ponzi scheme to pay customers making redemption requests. In a complaint filed in federal court in San Diego, the SEC alleges that Paul Lee Moore and Coast Capital Management, his purported investment advisory firm, raised $2.6 million from clients. Instead of investing their money as promised, Moore allegedly siphoned nearly $2 million of client funds to pay travel expenses, buy retail goods, and fund his use of pornographic websites. The complaint alleges that Moore used…
Read MoreSEC Chair White, Federal Agencies Join Forces for Military Consumer Protection Day 2015
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White led a multi-agency event today to support Military Consumer Protection Day 2015, highlighting how service members can best protect themselves and their finances from fraud and identity theft. Chair White was joined at the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst event by officials from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Department of Justice’s Service Members and Veterans Initiative, the U.S. Attorneys' Housing and Civil Enforcement Section of the Fair Housing Program, the FBI’s Securities Fraud Program and the U.S. Secret Service. “Taking control of your finances starts with access to information about financial products and…
Read MoreSEC Charges 34 Defendants in Microcap Market Manipulation Schemes
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged 15 individuals and 19 entities for their roles in alleged schemes to manipulate the trading of microcap stocks. The 34 defendants include six firms alleged to have acted as unregistered broker-dealers catering to customers who sought to conceal their stock ownership and manipulate the market for microcap securities. Owners and employees at the six firms, several customers, stock promoters, and two microcap issuers – Warrior Girl Corp. and Nature’s Peak, formerly Everock, Inc. – also are among the defendants in the case filed in federal district court in Manhattan. The SEC charged the…
Read MoreOZ Management LP Admits Providing Inaccurate Data, Impacting Brokers’ Records and “Blue Sheets”
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged OZ Management LP with providing inaccurate trade data to four prime brokers, causing inaccuracies in the brokers’ books and records and in data provided to the SEC in investigations. OZ Management, an investment adviser for numerous Och-Ziff funds, admitted wrongdoing and agreed to pay a $4.25 million penalty to settle the charges. According to the SEC’s order instituting a settled cease-and-desist proceeding, for nearly six years, ending in December 2013, OZ Management misidentified some trades in data provided to four of its prime brokers. Although trade settlement was unaffected, the erroneous data had…
Read MoreRelease of Joint Staff Report on October 15, 2014
Staff from the U.S. Department of Treasury, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission today issued a joint report analyzing the significant volatility in the U.S. Treasury market on October 15, 2014. Using non-public data from the U.S. Treasury cash and futures markets, the joint report provides detailed analysis of the market conditions and record trading volumes that day, including an unusually rapid round trip in prices and deterioration in liquidity during a narrow window. The joint report…
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