Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - December 12th, 2014
(Dec 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Sanctions Eight Audit Firms for Violating Auditor Independence Rules
December 8, 2014 (Litigation Release No. 272)
The SEC sanctioned the following firms for violating auditor's independence criteria: BKD LLP, Boros & Farrington Accountancy Corporation, Brace & Associates PLLC, Robert Cooper & Company CPA PC, Lally & Co LLC, Lerner & Sipkin CPAs LLP, OUM & Co LLP, and Joseph Yafeh CPA Inc. While performing audits for their broker-dealer clients, these firms...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - December 5th, 2014
(Dec 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Charges California Resident With Fraudulent Sales of Stock
December 2, 2014 (Litigation Release No. 268)
The SEC has charged Vinay Kumar Nevatia for fraudulently selling $900,000 of private shares of CSS Corp. The SEC contends that Kumar, living in Palo Alto under several aliases, sold shares in 2011 and 2012 that he had already sold in 2008. Kumar has never been registered with the SEC.
SEC Announces Fraud Charges Against Two Executives in Scheme Involving...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - October 17th, 2014
(Oct 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Obtains Summary Judgment Against Defendants in Securities Fraud Involving Biopharmaceutical Company
October 15, 2014 (Litigation Release No. 23114 )
On October 10, the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted the Commission's motion for "summary judgment and for partial summary judgment, respectively, against Defendants Douglas McClain, Sr. ("McClain Sr."), of Fair Oaks, Texas, and Douglas McClain Jr. ("McClain Jr."), formerly of...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - October 10th, 2014
(Oct 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Paul T. Mannion, Jr., Andrew S. Reckles, Pef Advisors LLC, and Pef Advisors Ltd.
October 8, 2014 (Litigation Release No. 23108 )
The SEC announced that on September 29, 2014, the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia entered a final judgment against Paul T. Mannion, JR., Andrew S. Reckles, PEF Advisors LLC and PEF Advisors Ltd. The Court found that Mannion and Reckles, co-owners of both PEF Advisors entities, had...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - October 3rd, 2014
(Oct 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC v. Patrick G. Rooney, John R. Rooney, and Positron Corporation, Civil Action No. 9:14-cv-81224-KAM (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida)
October 3, 2014 (Litigation Release No. 23103)
The SEC announced that on September 30, it had filed a civil injunctive action against Positron Corporation, Patrick Rooney, the company's former CEO and John R. Rooney, a promoter of penny stocks. Positron, a microcap company, as well as Patrick Rooney and...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - September 26th, 2014
(Sep 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
Court Enters Final Judgments Against CEO and Executive Vice President of Company Involved in Pump-And-Dump Scheme Involving Fictitious Buyout Offer
September 25, 2014 (Litigation Release No. 23092)
The SEC announced that the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered final judgments against Maximilien Arella, CEO, and Ian Morrice, the Executive Vice President, both of Spencer Pharmaceutical Inc. (a microcap pharmaceutical company). Permanent...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - September 19th, 2014
(Sep 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Charges Eight for Roles in Widespread Pump-And-Dump Scheme Involving California-Based Microcap Company
September 18, 2014 (Litigation Release No. 23087)
Charges were filed against eight individuals cooperating in what the SEC alleges is a "pump-and-dump scheme involving a penny stock company...that has repeatedly changed its name and purported line of business over the past several years." The SEC named Izak Zirk de Maison and Angelique de Maison as the...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - June 6th, 2014
(Jun 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Charles J. Dushek, Charles S. Dushek, and Capital Management Associates, Inc., June 5, 2014, (Litigation Release No. 23015)
Final judgments have been entered against Charles J. Dushek, Charles S. Dushek, and their investment advisory firm, Capital Management Associates, Inc., for their involvement in a "cherry-picking" scheme that "garnered the Dusheks nearly $2 million in illicit profits." The final judgment permanently enjoins the...
FINRA Enforcement Actions: Month in Review
(Jun 2014)
MAY 2014 SELECTED FINRA ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
FIRMS FINED
ABN AMRO Clearing Chicago LLC (CRD #14020, Chicago, Illinois)
ABN AMRO Clearing Chicago LLC consented to a censure and $95,000 fine for allegedly failing "to report short interest positions to the New York Stock Exchange and FINRA on certain settlement dates, and submitt[ing] to FINRA an inaccurate short-interest position report." FINRA found that the firm's supervisory system did not provide for supervision reasonably designed to achieve...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - May 16th, 2014
(May 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Charges Unregistered Securities Salesman for Selling Millions of Dollars in Oil-And-Gas Investments
May 15, 2014, (Litigation Release No. 22993)
According to the complaint, Behrooz Sarafraz "acted as the primary salesman on behalf of TVC Opus I Drilling Program LP and Tri-Valley Corporation" and received over $16 million in sales commissions while failing to be registered with the SEC as a broker-dealer. Sarafraz has agreed to a final judgment that enjoins...
