Articles Posted in Fraud and Misrepresentation

In the Matter of Anand Sekaran: On November 30, 2012, the Commission issued an Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings Pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Section 203(f) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions (Order) against Anand Sekaran (Sekaran). On November 26, 2012, the…

Defendant in SEC Action Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges and is Barred from the Securities Industry The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that Arnett L. Waters of Milton, Massachusetts, a principal of a broker-dealer and investment adviser who is a defendant in a securities fraud action filed by the Commission in May 2012, has…

Former Fair Finance Company CEO Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison for Conducting $200 Million Fraud Scheme The Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) announced that on November 30, 2012, Timothy S. Durham, former CEO of Ohio-based Fair Finance Company (Fair Finance), was sentenced to 50 years in prison for orchestrating a $200 million scheme that…

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged three health care company employees and four others in a New Jersey-based insider trading ring of various high school friends generating $1.7 million in illegal profits and kickbacks by trading in advance of 11 public announcements involving mergers, a drug approval application, and quarterly earnings of pharmaceutical companies…

SEC v. BP p.l.c., Case No. 2:12-cv-02774 (E.D. La. Nov. 15, 2012). BP TO PAY $525 MILLION PENALTY TO SETTLE SEC CHARGES OF SECURITIES FRAUD DURING DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged BP p.l.c. with misleading investors while its Deepwater Horizon oil rig was gushing into the Gulf of Mexico…

Securities and Exchange Commission v. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, EMC Mortgage, LLC, Bear Stearns Asset Backed Securities I, LLC, Structured Asset Mortgage Investments II, Inc., SACO I, Inc., and J.P. Morgan Acceptance Corporation I, Civil Action No. 1:12-cv-01872 (RLW) (D.D.C. filed Nov. 16, 2012) SEC CHARGES J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LLC WITH MISLEADING INVESTORS IN RMBS…

SEC Charges Miami-Based Adviser with Hiding Trading Losses and Diverting Client Funds The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged a Miami-based investment adviser for defrauding his clients by concealing trading losses and diverting investor funds for personal use. The SEC alleges that Anand Sekaran and his firm Wasson Capital Advisors Ltd. fabricated documents showing illusory…

SEC Charges Executives and Auditor of Electronic Game Card Company with Fraud Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged three executives with repeatedly lying to investors about the operations and financial condition of an Irvine, Calif.-based company that purported to sell credit card-size electronic games. The SEC also charged the company’s independent auditor with…

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ellis, Civil Action No. 0:12-cv-62211 SEC Charges South Florida Man with Recruiting Victims of Ponzi Scheme The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged a South Florida man with defrauding at least 14 investors by soliciting them to invest in a Ponzi scheme. A significant number of the victims were members…

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Stanley B. McDuffie (f/k/a Stanley Roberson and Stanley Battle) and Jilapuhn, Inc., d/b/a Her Majesty’s Credit Union, LLC, Civil Action No. [1:12-cv-02939] (D. Colo., filed November 8, 2012). SEC Charges Purported Credit Union and Its Principal with Offering Fraud Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil injunctive action…