SEC Charges Vitamin Company’s Former Board Member and Brothers With Insider Trading
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a former director of a Long Island-based vitamin company and others in his family circle with insider trading ahead of the company’s sale to a private equity firm. The SEC alleges that board member Glenn Cohen learned that NBTY Inc. was negotiating a sale to The Carlyle Group and tipped his three brothers and a brother’s girlfriend with the confidential information. Craig Cohen, Marc Cohen, Steven Cohen, and Laurie Topal all traded on the inside information that Glenn Cohen provided and reaped illicit profits totaling $175,000. The four Cohens and Topal agreed to…
Read MoreSEC Charges Sarasota-Based Private Fund Manager With Stealing Investor Money and Conducting Ponzi Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Sarasota, Fla.-based private fund manager with defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme that ensued after he squandered their money on bad investments and personal expenses. The SEC alleges that Gaeton “Guy” S. Della Penna raised $3.8 million from investors in three private investment funds that he operated. Investors were told their funds would be used to trade securities or invest in small companies. Despite depicting himself as a distinguished trader and profit-maker, Della Penna lost nearly all of their money by making unsuccessful investments and diverting more than a million dollars to…
Read MoreSEC Charges Former Deloitte Chief Risk Officer for Violations of Auditor Independence Rules
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the former chief risk officer at Deloitte LLP for causing violations of the auditor independence rules that ensure audit firms maintain their objectivity and impartiality with respect to their clients. An SEC order finds that certified public accountant James T. Adams repeatedly accepted tens of thousands of dollars in casino markers while he was the advisory partner on subsidiary Deloitte & Touche’s audit of a casino gaming corporation. A marker is an instrument utilized by a casino customer to receive gaming chips drawn against the customer’s line of credit at the casino. Adams…
Read MoreSEC Announces Charges Against Four Former Officials at Clearing Firm Penson Financial Services for Regulation SHO Violations
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against four former officials at clearing firm Penson Financial Services for their roles in Regulation SHO violations. An SEC investigation found that Penson’s securities lending practices intentionally and systematically violated Rule 204 under Reg. SHO. The SEC’s Enforcement Division alleges that Penson’s chief compliance officer Thomas R. Delaney II had direct knowledge that the firm’s procedures for sales of customer margin securities were resulting in rule violations, yet he didn’t take steps to bring Penson into compliance and instead affirmatively assisted the violations. Penson’s president and CEO Charles W. Yancey ignored significant…
Read MoreSEC Charges Two Clinical Drug Trial Doctors With Insider Trading
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two California-based doctors with illegally trading on inside knowledge that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had halted the clinical trials of a new prostate cancer drug developed by biopharmaceutical company GTx Inc. The SEC alleges that Dr. Franklin M. Chu and Dr. Daniel J. Lama were medical investigators in the drug trials of Capesaris and avoided significant trading losses by selling their GTx stock after being informed by the company that the FDA had halted the trials due to patient safety concerns. After GTx publicly announced the negative development a few days…
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