In the week ending with "April Fools Day," the Commission continued to issue proposed regulations to implement the Dodd-Frank Wall Street and Consumer Protection Act. SEC Enforcement focused on investment fund fraud actions, filing or resolving... Read More
One of the new staples of SEC enforcement is offering fraud cases. When coupled with Ponzi scheme or investment fund fraud actions, they constitute a significant portion of the day to day work load of the reorganized Enforcement Division. Two recent... Read More
A staple of SEC enforcement in recent years has been offering fraud and Ponzi scheme cases. This week the Commission filed two more of these actions, one an offering fraud targeting military personnel and a second and investment fund fraud case which... Read More
The Commission filed two settled offering fraud actions centered in part around an entity engaged in the purchase and sale of thoroughbred horses called Raintree Racing. A second involved an offering of interests in a real estate investment firm known... Read More
Offering fraud and Ponzi scheme cases have, in recent years, become a staple of the SEC enforcement division. Some of these cases are simple shams where the promoters lure unsuspecting investors with tales of quick, easy and safe returns. Others are more... Read More
Offering fraud has long been a staple of SEC enforcement. SEC v. Baldwin, Civil Action No. 2:15-cv-00458 (D. UT. Filed June 25, 2015) is one such action, centered on the acquisition of two defaulted loans, collateralized by real estate. In one instance... Read More
The Commission filed another in what appears to be an unending series of offering fraud actions. Unlike many of its prior cases, this action centers on a Respondent who kept shifting his scheme to continually raise more money at the expense of innocent... Read More
The President's new market crisis task force brought its first action this week. It named as a defendant Bear Stearns which has been acquired by JP Morgan. The New York AG, co-chair of the task force announced in the state of the union address earlier... Read More
A business man, a real estate company he acquired from his grandfather, a registered representative who has now been barred by FINRA from the securities business and Maryland Division of Securities from the advisory business and an unnamed broker teamed... Read More
[UPDATE: This article was updated to correct the names of the respondents in the described case.] The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has further demonstrated its intent to take a more active role in ensuring that participants... Read More
The Commission instituted administrative proceedings centered on an offering fraud orchestrated by a former adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School who taught, and previously specialized in, turning around troubled companies, along with his firm... Read More
The SEC brought another in a series of offering fraud cases. This one, however, does not focus on just one offering but three since mid- 2011. Promoters Robert Helms and Janniece Kaelin, their entities and Deven Sellers and Roland Barrera are named as... Read More
The SEC entered into partial settlements with three persons charged with acting as brokers without registering. The charges were tied to an offering fraud which centered on selling interests in a firm that claimed to be engaged in the business of buying... Read More
Microcap fraud and offering fraud cases are staples of SEC enforcement. The agency added to its totals in these areas, filing an additional offering fraud and microcap fraud action. SEC v. Mogler, Civil Action No. 15-cv-01814 (D. Ariz. Sept. 11, 2015... Read More