SEC Awards Nearly $4 Million to Whistleblower

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of nearly $4 million to a whistleblower who tipped the agency with detailed and specific information about serious misconduct and provided additional assistance during the ensuing investigation, including industry-specific knowledge and expertise.

“Not only did this whistleblower step forward and report suspicious conduct, but continued to help after we opened our investigation,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower.  “Whistleblowers with specialized experience or expertise can help us expend fewer resources in our investigations and bring enforcement actions more efficiently.”

Approximately $153 million has now been awarded to 43 whistleblowers who became eligible for an award after voluntarily providing the SEC with original and useful information that led to successful enforcement actions. 

SEC enforcement actions from whistleblower tips have resulted in more than $953 million in financial remedies against wrongdoers.

By law, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that might directly or indirectly reveal a whistleblower’s identity.  Whistleblower awards can range from 10 percent to 30 percent of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million.  All payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators.  No money has been taken or withheld from harmed investors to pay whistleblower awards.

For more information about the whistleblower program and how to report a tip, visit www.sec.gov/whistleblower.

Investment Bank VP Charged With Insider Trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a vice president in the risk management department of a New York-based investment bank with insider trading on confidential information he learned in advance of a private equity firm’s acquisition of a publicly-traded technology company.

The SEC alleges that Avaneesh Krishnamoorthy learned that Golden Gate Capital planned to acquire Neustar Inc., and he then began trading in Neustar securities.  The trading took place in two brokerage accounts that Krishnamoorthy allegedly kept hidden from his employer, which had been approached by Golden Gate Capital to finance the transaction.  According to the SEC’s complaint, Krishnamoorthy made approximately $48,000 in illicit profits.

“As alleged in our complaint, Krishnamoorthy was entrusted with confidential, market-moving information by his employer and he misused it for personal gain,” said Andrew M. Calamari, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office.

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York today filed criminal charges against Krishnamoorthy. 

The SEC is seeking an emergency court order to freeze the assets in the brokerage accounts belonging to Krishnamoorthy and his wife, who has been named as a relief defendant in the SEC’s complaint for purposes of recovering allegedly ill-gotten gains in the account in her name.  The complaint charges Krishnamoorthy with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 as well as Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. 

The SEC’s investigation is being conducted by Alison R. Levine, Preethi Krishnamurthy, Neil Hendelman, and Thomas P. Smith Jr.  The litigation will be led by Ms. Krishnamurthy and Ms. Levine.  The case is being supervised by Sanjay Wadhwa.  The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Portfolio Manager Charged With Diverting Nearly $2 Million to Personal Account

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against a Massachusetts-based portfolio manager accused of diverting at least $1.95 million to his personal brokerage account from a fund over which he had trading authority.

The SEC’s complaint alleges that Kevin J. Amell carried out a fraudulent matched-trades scheme in which he prearranged the purchase or sale of call options between his own account and the brokerage accounts of the fund at prices that were disadvantageous to the fund and advantageous to him.  In one series of trades involving Amazon securities, for example, Amell allegedly generated a $23,000 profit for himself in less than 23 minutes at the fund’s expense.

“As alleged in our complaint, Amell abused his trading authority at least 265 times by matching trades between the fund and his personal account at prices that he intentionally and fraudulently skewed to benefit himself,” said Joseph G. Sansone, Co-Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Market Abuse Unit.

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts today filed criminal charges against Amell.

The SEC’s complaint charges Amell with violating Sections 17(a)(1) and (3) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5(a) and (c), and Sections 17(a)(1), 17(a)(2) and 17(j) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and Rules 17j-1(b)(1), (3) and (4).  The SEC is seeking disgorgement of Amell’s ill-gotten gains plus interest and penalties as well as injunctions.  

The SEC’s investigation, which is continuing, is being conducted by Melanie A. MacLean, John D. Marino, and Simona Suh of the Market Abuse Unit and Elzbieta Wraga of the New York Regional Office.  The case has been supervised by Mr. Sansone.  The litigation will be led by Ms. MacLean, Ms. Suh, and Martin F. Healey of the Boston Regional Office.  The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Field Office, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Telecom Executives Agree to Pay Penalties For FCPA Violations

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that two former executives at Hungarian-based telecommunications company Magyar Telekom have agreed to pay financial penalties and accept officer-and-director bars to settle a previously-filed SEC case alleging they violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Magyar Telekom paid a $95 million penalty in December 2011 to settle parallel civil and criminal charges that the company bribed officials in Macedonia and Montenegro to win business and shut out competition in the telecommunications industry.  The SEC’s complaint also charged the company’s former CEO Elek Straub and former chief strategy officer Andras Balogh with orchestrating the use of sham contracts to funnel millions of dollars in corrupt payments.  The two executives were set to stand trial this month.

Straub has agreed to pay a $250,000 penalty and Balogh has agreed to pay a $150,000 penalty.  Both executives agreed to a five-year bar from serving as an officer or director of any SEC-registered public company.  The settlements are subject to court approval.

“The executives in this case were charged with spearheading secret agreements with a prime minister and others to block out telecom competitors,” said Stephanie Avakian, Acting Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.  “We persevered in order to hold these overseas executives culpable for corrupting a company that traded in the U.S. market.”

A third Magyar Telekom executive charged in the SEC’s complaint, former director of business development and acquisitions Tamas Morvai, agreed to a settlement that was approved by the court in February requiring him to pay a $60,000 penalty for falsifying the company’s books and records in connection with the bribery scheme.

The SEC’s litigation was led by Robert I. Dodge, Thomas A. Bednar, and John D. Worland Jr.  The case was investigated by Adam J. Eisner and supervised by Charles E. Cain, Deputy Chief of the Enforcement Division’s FCPA Unit.  The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.   

SEC: Payments for Bullish Articles on Stocks Must Be Disclosed to Investors

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced enforcement actions against 27 individuals and entities behind various alleged stock promotion schemes that left investors with the impression they were reading independent, unbiased analyses on investing websites while writers were being secretly compensated for touting company stocks.

SEC investigations uncovered scenarios in which public companies hired promoters or communications firms to generate publicity for their stocks, and the firms subsequently hired writers to publish articles that did not publicly disclose the payments from the companies.  The writers allegedly posted bullish articles about the companies on the internet under the guise of impartiality when in reality they were nothing more than paid advertisements.  More than 250 articles specifically included false statements that the writers had not been compensated by the companies they were writing about, the SEC alleges.

“If a company pays someone to publish or publicize articles about its stock, it must be disclosed to the investing public.  These companies, promoters, and writers allegedly misled investors by disguising paid promotions as objective and independent analyses,” said Stephanie Avakian, Acting Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.

According to the SEC’s orders as well as a pair of complaints filed in federal district court, deceptive measures were often used to hide the true sources of the articles from investors.  For example, one writer wrote under his own name as well as at least nine pseudonyms, including a persona he invented who claimed to be “an analyst and fund manager with almost 20 years of investment experience.”  One of the stock promotion firms went so far as to have some writers it hired sign non-disclosure agreements specifically preventing them from disclosing compensation they received.

“Deception takes many forms.  Our markets cannot operate fairly when there are deliberate efforts to reach prospective investors with positive articles about a stock while hiding that the companies paid for those articles,” said Melissa Hodgman, Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.

The SEC filed fraud charges against three public companies and seven stock promotion or communications firms as well as two company CEOs, six individuals at the firms, and nine writers.  Of those charged, 17 have agreed to settlements that include disgorgement or penalties ranging from approximately $2,200 to nearly $3 million based on frequency and severity of their actions.  The SEC’s litigation continues against 10 others. 

The SEC also instituted separate charges against another company for its involvement in circulating promotional materials that did not comply with prospectus requirements under the federal securities laws.  The company settled the case.

The SEC today released an investor alert warning that articles on an investment research website that appear to be an unbiased source of information or provide commentary on multiple stocks may be part of an undisclosed paid stock promotion.  Investors should never make an investment based solely on information published on an investment research website.  When making an investment decision, thoroughly research the company using multiple sources.

“Stock promotion schemes may be conducted through investment research websites,” said Lori Schock, Director of the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy.  “Investors looking for objective investment information should be aware that fraudsters may use these websites to profit at investors’ expense.”

The SEC’s investigations were conducted by Beth Groves, Ian Rupell, Shelby Hunt, Jim Blenko, and Jonathan Jacobs with assistance from Michi Harthcock, Jamie Wohlert, Suzanne Romajas, and Frederick Block.  The cases were supervised by Rami Sibay, and the litigation will be led by Ms. Romajas and Patrick Costello.

SEC Adopts JOBS Act Amendments to Help Entrepreneurs and Investors

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has adopted amendments to increase the amount of money companies can raise through crowdfunding to adjust for inflation.  It also approved amendments that adjust for inflation a threshold used to determine eligibility for benefits offered to “emerging growth companies” (EGCs) under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act.

“Regular updates to the JOBS Act, as prescribed by Congress, ensure that the entrepreneurs and investors who benefit from crowdfunding will continue to do so,” said SEC Acting Chairman Michael S. Piwowar. “Under these amendments, the JOBS Act can continue to create jobs and investment opportunities for the general public.”

The SEC is required to make inflation adjustments to certain JOBS Act rules at least once every five years after it was enacted on April 5, 2012.  In addition to the inflation adjustments, the SEC adopted technical amendments to conform several rules and forms to amendments made to the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) by Title I of the JOBS Act.

The Commission approved the new thresholds March 31. They will become effective when they are published in the Federal Register.

BACKGROUND

Section 101 of the JOBS Act added new Securities Act Section 2(a)(19) and Exchange Act Section 3(a)(80) to define the term “emerging growth company” (“EGC”).  Pursuant to those sections, every five years the SEC is directed to index the annual gross revenue amount used to determine EGC status to inflation to reflect the change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“CPI-U”) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (“BLS”).  To carry out this statutory directive, the SEC has adopted amendments to Securities Act Rule 405 and Exchange Act Rule 12b-2 to include a definition for EGC that reflects an inflation-adjusted annual gross revenue threshold.  The JOBS Act also added new Securities Act Section 4(a)(6), which provides an exemption from the registration requirements of Section 5 under the Securities Act for certain crowdfunding transactions.  In October 2015, the SEC promulgated Regulation Crowdfunding to implement that exemption.  Sections 4(a)(6) and 4A of the Securities Act set forth dollar amounts used in connection with the crowdfunding exemption, and Section 4A(h)(1) states that such dollar amounts shall be adjusted by the SEC not less frequently than once every five years to reflect the change in the CPI-U published by the BLS.  The SEC has adopted amendments to Rules 100 and 201(t) of Regulation Crowdfunding and Securities Act Form C to reflect the required inflation adjustments.

In addition, Sections 102 and 103 of the JOBS Act amended the Securities Act and the Exchange Act to provide several exemptions from a number of disclosure, shareholder voting, and other regulatory requirements for any issuer that qualifies as an EGC. The exemptions reduce the financial disclosures an EGC is required to provide in public offering registration statements and relieve an EGC from conducting advisory votes on executive compensation, as well as from a number of accounting and disclosure requirements.  The regulatory relief provided under Sections 102 and 103 of the JOBS Act was self-executing and became effective once the JOBS Act was signed into law.  The technical amendments that the SEC is adopting conform several rules and forms to reflect these JOBS Act statutory changes.

Table 1:  Inflation-Adjusted Amounts in Rule 100 of Regulation Crowdfunding (Offering Maximum and Investment Limits)

Table 2:  Inflation-Adjusted Amounts in Rule 201(t) of Regulation Crowdfunding (Financial Statement Requirements)

Kara Novaco Brockmeyer, Chief of FCPA Unit, to Leave SEC After 17 Years of Service

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Kara Novaco Brockmeyer, Chief of the Enforcement Division’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Unit, is planning to leave the agency later this month. 

Since 2011, Ms. Brockmeyer has led a national unit of 38 attorneys, accountants, and other specialists focusing on violations of the anti-bribery and accounting provisions of the federal securities laws.  In addition, Ms. Brockmeyer has played a leading role in SEC programs, having founded and served as the co-head of the Enforcement Division’s Cross Border Working Group, a proactive risk-based initiative focusing on U.S. companies with substantial foreign operations, and serving as a member of the Enforcement Division’s Cooperation Committee and the Enforcement Advisory Committee.  

“Kara’s creativity and perseverance have led to truly outstanding results in the SEC’s FCPA program,” said Stephanie Avakian, Acting Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division.  “Her leadership of the unit has led to many successes in the FCPA area.”

Ms. Brockmeyer said, “It has been an honor and a privilege to work with the incredibly talented and dedicated staff in the FCPA Unit and throughout the Division of Enforcement and the SEC.  I am very proud of the results that the unit has achieved over the past five years.”

Under Ms. Brockmeyer’s supervision of the FCPA unit, the SEC has brought 72 FCPA enforcement actions addressing a wide range of misconduct and resulting in judgments and orders totaling more than $2 billion in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and penalties.  These impactful actions included charges against:

• Hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, which paid $412 million in civil and criminal sanctions to settle charges that it used intermediaries, agents, and business partners to pay bribes to high-level government officials in Africa. In addition, Och-Ziff CEO Daniel Och agreed to pay nearly $2.2 million to settle SEC charges that he caused certain violations along with CFO Joel Frank, who also agreed to settle charges.

• Brazilian-based petrochemical manufacturer Braskem S.A., which agreed to pay $957 million in a global settlement for concealing millions of dollars in illicit bribes paid to Brazilian government officials to win business.

• Financial services firm JP Morgan Chase & Co., which paid $264 million in a global settlement of charges that it corruptly influenced government officials and won business in the Asia-Pacific region by giving jobs and internships to their relatives and friends.

• Brazilian-based aircraft manufacturer Embraer S.A., which agreed to pay $205 million to settle charges that it violated the FCPA to win business in the Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia, Mozambique, and India.

• Tokyo-based conglomerate Hitachi Ltd. for inaccurately recording improper payments to South Africa’s ruling political party in connection with contracts to build power plants.  Hitachi agreed to pay $19 million to settle charges.

• Anheuser-Busch InBev, which paid $6 million to settle charges that it violated the FCPA by using third-party sales promoters to make improper payments to government officials in India and chilled a whistleblower who reported the misconduct.

• Wisconsin-based global provider of HVAC systems Johnson Controls, which agreed to pay more than $14 million to settle charges that its Chinese subsidiary used sham vendors to make improper payments to employees of Chinese government-owned shipyards and other officials to win business.

• Magyar Telekom Plc. and three of its former top executives for bribing government and political party officials in Macedonia and Montenegro to win business and shut out competition in the telecommunications industry.
   

During Ms. Brockmeyer’s tenure as Chief of the FCPA Unit, the SEC expanded its use of cooperation tools in the FCPA area, including the first FCPA-related non-prosecution agreement (NPA) in 2013 with Ralph Lauren Corporation, and the first use of a deferred prosecution agreement with an individual in an FCPA case in 2016.  Ms. Brockmeyer also supervised a significant financial fraud matter that resulted in charges against Weatherford International and its executives for inflating earnings by using deceptive income tax accounting, and against Ernst & Young LLP and two of its partners for conducting failed audits of Weatherford.

Ms. Brockmeyer joined the SEC in 2000 following several years in private practice.  She started supervising investigations in 2002 and was promoted to Assistant Director in 2005.  In addition to FCPA investigations, Ms. Brockmeyer has substantial experience supervising matters involving financial fraud, insider trading, market manipulation, and violations by regulated entities.  She received the Capital Markets Award and the Supervisory Excellence Award from the SEC in 2004 as well as the Irving Pollack Award in 2013 and the Meritorious Impact Award in 2016.

Ms. Brockmeyer received her law degree magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School and her undergraduate degree cum laude from Williams College.

Following Ms. Brockmeyer’s departure, Charles Cain, who is currently the Deputy Chief of the FCPA Unit, will serve as Acting Chief.

SEC Announces Agenda for April 5 Meeting of the Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced its Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee will meet on April 5 beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET.  The Commission established the advisory committee to provide a formal mechanism through which the Commission can receive advice and recommendations on equity market structure issues.

The meeting will include updates from the four subcommittees, including presentations from the Regulation NMS subcommittee on Rule 611 and the Trading Venues Regulation subcommittee on SRO rule-based limitations of liability and regulatory centralization.

The meeting will be held at the SEC’s headquarters at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C., and is open to the public.  It also will be webcast live on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov, and will be archived on the website for later viewing.

Members of the public who wish to provide their views on the matters to be considered by the advisory committee may submit comments electronically or on paper.  Please submit comments using one method only.  Information that is submitted will become part of the public record of the meeting.

Electronic submissions:

Use of the SEC’s Internet submission form or send an e-mail to rule-comments@sec.gov.

Paper submissions:

Send paper submissions in triplicate to Brent Fields, Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549-1090.

All submissions should refer to File Number 265-29, and the file number should be included on the subject line if e-mail is used.

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SEC Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee

Agenda

April 5, 2017

9:30 a.m.         Welcoming Remarks by Acting SEC Chair Piwowar, Commissioner Stein, and Acting Director of Trading and Markets, Heather Seidel

10:00 a.m.       Regulation NMS Subcommittee Presentation and Preliminary Recommendations Relating to Rule 611

10:10 a.m.       Discussion of Rule 611 and Preliminary Recommendations

•  Jeff Brown, SVP, Legislative & Regulatory Affairs, Charles Schwab
• Charles Jones, Professor of Finance & Economics, Columbia Business School
• Adam Nunes, Head of Business Development, Hudson River Trading
• Paul Russo, Global Co-COO – Equities, Goldman Sachs
• Thomas Wittman, EVP for Global Equities & CEO, NASDAQ/PHLX/ISE/BX Exchanges

11:30 a.m.       Lunch

12:30 p.m.       Trading Venues Regulation Subcommittee Presentation on Regulatory Centralization and Preliminary Recommendations Relating to SRO Rule-Based Limitations of Liability

12:40 p.m.       Discussion of Regulatory Centralization and Preliminary Recommendations

• Anthony Albanese, Chief Regulatory Officer, NYSE
•  Lev Bagramian, Senior Securities Policy Advisor, Better Markets, Inc.
•  Thomas Gira, EVP, Market Regulation & Transparency Services, FINRA
• John Kerin, CEO & President, Chicago Stock Exchange
•  Brett Redfearn, Global Head of Equity Market Structure Strategy, JP Morgan Securities

2:00 p.m.         Break

2:15 p.m.         Market Quality Subcommittee Status Report to the Committee

2:45 p.m.         Customer Issues Subcommittee Status Report to the Committee

3:15 p.m.         Discussion of Next Steps / Adjournment 

SEC Charges Pastor With Defrauding Retirees

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges and an emergency asset freeze obtained against a Michigan-based pastor accused of exploiting church members, retirees, and laid-off auto workers who were misled to believe they were investing in a successful real estate business.

The SEC alleges that Larry Holley, the pastor of Abundant Life Ministries in Flint, Mich., cloaked his solicitations in faith-based rhetoric, replete with references to scripture and biblical figures.  Holley allegedly told prospective investors that as a person who “prayed for your children,” he was more trustworthy than a “banker” with their money.  According to the SEC’s complaint, Holley held financial presentations masked as “Blessed Life Conferences” at churches nationwide during which he asked congregants to fill out cards detailing their financial holdings, and he promised to pray over the cards and invited attendees to have one-on-one consultations with his team.  He allegedly called his investors “millionaires in the making.”

According to the SEC’s complaint, which also charges Holley’s company Treasure Enterprise LLC and his business associate Patricia Enright Gray, approximately $6.7 million was raised from more than 80 investors who were guaranteed high returns and told they were investing in a profitable real estate company with hundreds of residential and commercial properties. 

According to the complaint, Gray advertised on a religious radio station based in Flint and singled out recently laid-off auto workers with severance packages to consult her for a “financial increase.”  Gray allegedly promised to roll over investors’ retirement funds into tax-advantaged Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) and invest them in Treasure Enterprise.  The SEC alleges that no investor funds were deposited into IRAs, and Treasure Enterprise struggled to generate enough revenue from its real estate investments to support the business and make payments owed to investors.  Treasure Enterprise owes investors an estimated $1.9 million in past due payments, according to the SEC’s complaint.

“As alleged in our complaint, Holley and Gray targeted the retirement savings of churchgoers, building a bond of trust purportedly based on faith but actually based on false promises,” said David Glockner, Director of the SEC’s Chicago Regional Office.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Holley, Gray, and Treasure Enterprise were not registered to sell investments.  The SEC encourages investors to check the background of anyone offering to sell them investments by doing a quick search on the SEC’s investor.gov website.

The SEC has obtained a temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan that freezes the assets of Holley, Gray, and Treasure Enterprise.  The court’s order also appoints a receiver and imposes other emergency relief.

The SEC’s complaint alleges violations of Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5.  The complaint seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest, penalties, and permanent injunctions.

The SEC’s investigation, which is continuing, is being conducted by Ana P. Doncic, Delia L. Helpingstine, and Sruthi Koneru of the Chicago office.  The case is being supervised by Steven L. Klawans, and the litigation is being led by Jonathan S. Polish.  

SEC Names Sagar S. Teotia as Deputy Chief Accountant

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the appointment of Sagar S. Teotia as a Deputy Chief Accountant in the agency’s Office of the Chief Accountant.

As Deputy Chief Accountant, Mr. Teotia will lead the activities of the office’s accounting group, which includes understanding investor and other perspectives on accounting matters and consulting with public companies, auditors, and divisions and offices within the SEC, on the application of accounting standards and financial disclosure requirements. Mr. Teotia will also assist the office in discharging the Commission’s oversight of standard setting bodies such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Mr. Teotia previously served in the office as a professional accounting fellow from 2009 to 2011. During his time as a fellow he followed the activities of professional accounting standard-setting bodies, both within the United States and internationally.

“I am very pleased that Sagar has agreed to return to the Office of the Chief Accountant to oversee the accounting group,” said SEC Chief Accountant Wesley Bricker. “Sagar’s prior experience as an SEC accounting fellow as well as his expertise and wealth of experience in public accounting will provide critical service to investors, companies and the Commission.”

“I am honored to have this opportunity to return to work at the Commission and serve with the talented and highly dedicated team in the Office of the Chief Accountant on behalf of investors,” said Mr. Teotia.

Mr. Teotia joins the SEC with approximately 18 years of professional experience that includes expertise in regulatory matters, technical accounting, and mergers and acquisitions. He joins the SEC from Deloitte & Touche LLP’s National Office Accounting Consultation Group in Chicago, where he was a partner.

Mr. Teotia’s work has included a focus on financial instruments, business combinations, and compensation issues, including stock compensation and pension matters. He has also worked on matters regarding the application of U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and International Financial Reporting Standards.

Mr. Teotia received an accounting degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is licensed to practice as a certified public accountant in Illinois.

SEC Halts Fraud Targeting Seniors

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an emergency asset freeze and temporary restraining order against a Chicago-based investment adviser and his financial management company accused of scamming elderly investors out of millions of dollars. 

The SEC alleges that Daniel H. Glick and his unregistered investment advisory firm Financial Management Strategies (FMS) provided clients with false account statements to hide Glick’s use of client funds to pay personal and business expenses, purchase a Mercedes-Benz, and pay off loans and debts among other misuses.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Glick was barred by FINRA in 2014 and had his Certified Financial Planner designation and Certified Public Accountant license revoked for conduct unrelated to today’s SEC charges.

“As alleged in our complaint, Daniel Glick raised millions of dollars from elderly clients by claiming that he would pay their bills, handle their taxes, and invest on their behalf.  In reality, Daniel Glick used much of their money to do what was best for Daniel Glick,” said David Glockner, Director of the SEC’s Chicago Regional Office.

The SEC’s complaint also names Glick Accounting Services, Glick’s business partner David B. Slagter, and Glick’s business acquaintance Edward H. Forte as relief defendants for the purposes of recovering client funds that Glick transferred or paid them in the form of advances or loans.

The court issued a temporary restraining order against Glick and FMS at the SEC’s request, and issued an order freezing the assets of Glick, FMS, and Glick Accounting Services.

The SEC encourages investors to check the background of anyone offering to sell them investments.  For more information on resources for performing due diligence on your broker or adviser, please visit www.investor.gov.

The SEC’s investigation, which is continuing, is being conducted by Michelle Muñoz Durk and John Kustusch, and the case is being supervised by Jeffrey A. Shank.  The SEC’s litigation will be led by Steven C. Seeger.  The SEC’s examination that led to the investigation was conducted by Terrence Bohan, Michael Altschuler, and Christine Little, and it was supervised by Rosanne Smith.

SEC Halts Boiler Room Scheme Involving State Lottery Tickets

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against a Florida-based company, its CEO, and its top sales agent accused of conducting a boiler room scheme that solicits investments in a business purportedly facilitating online and cell phone sales of lottery tickets in various states.

The SEC has obtained an emergency court order freezing the assets of LottoNet Operating Corp., David Gray, and Joseph A. Vitale. The SEC’s complaint alleges that they misrepresented to investors that their money would be used to develop and market LottoNet and that sales agents did not receive commissions. At least 35 percent of investor proceeds were allegedly paid to boiler room sales agents in the form of commissions, and LottoNet allegedly siphoned investor funds for personal spending on clothing, wedding-related expenses, and strip clubs.

According to the SEC’s complaint, which was unsealed in federal court today, among the pitches used in sales agent scripts prepared for cold calls to investors was “you’re looking at a monthly dividend payout of $8,500 every month” on a $25,000 investment if LottoNet reaches 1 percent market share. The scripts also allegedly touted the purported safety of the investment, noting a 60 percent return as a “worst case” scenario if the company was ever sold. The SEC alleges that while LottoNet has raised a total of approximately $4.8 million from investors, the company had only paid $10,525.43 in investment returns to investors through the end of February. Sales agents allegedly have been paid more than $1.1 million out of investor funds.

The SEC’s complaint further alleges that Vitale, who personally raised at least $1.4 million from investors, used the alias Donovan Kelly in an apparent attempt to hide from investors that he is permanently barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

“As alleged in our complaint, little did investors know they were being duped with a script based on misrepresentations while investor funds were being spent in strip clubs,” said Eric I. Bustillo, Director of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office.

The SEC’s investigation, which is continuing, has been conducted in the Miami office by Kate Zoladz, Gary Miller, and Allen J. Genaldi. The case is being supervised by Elisha L. Frank and the litigation is being led by Amie Riggle Berlin. The SEC appreciates the assistance of FINRA.