Stephen J. Hatch, the mastermind of a $70M Arizona Ponzi scam, has been sentenced to five years in prison. Hatch, who pleaded guilty to fraud, targeted Christian investors, causing many of them to lose their life savings. As part of his plea deal, the Texas man agreed to pay back…
A jury has found Michael Gramins guilty of conspiracy to lie about mortgage bond prices. Gramins was one of three ex-Nomura (NMR) residential mortgage-backed securities traders charged with fraud and accused of defrauding clients of millions of dollars. Aside from the guilty RMBS fraud verdict for conspiracy, Gramins was found…
The Arkansas Teacher Retirement System is now the lead plaintiff in the class action securities fraud case against Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises. The energy company is accused of hiding significant losses. When Babcock & Wilcox finally disclosed that it was having problems, shareholders lost $300M after the stock price fell.…
In Kokesh v. SEC, the US Supreme Court has restricted the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s ability to pursue disgorgement after five years have passed since the fraud alleged led to illegal profits. In a unanimous decision, the nation’s highest court said that that the five-year statute of limitations must…
Two of the three ex-State Street Corp.(STT) executives whom US prosecutors have charged with bilking six clients via secret commissions on billions of dollars of trades have agreed to plead guilty. Edward Penning, a former State Street Sr. managing director, and Richard Boomgaardt, the former head of the transition management…
Deborah Kelley, an ex-Sterne Agee managing director and broker, has pleaded guilty to honest-services wire fraud and securities fraud. Kelley, admitted that she gave perks to former NY state pension fund manager Navnoor Kang in return for him directing trading business toward her firm. She could be sentenced to up…
Prosecutors have indicted a California man over his alleged involvement in an investment scam that bilked an ex-NFL player of $4.5M. Kenneth Ray Cleveland faces multiple counts of money laundering and wire fraud. The 63-year-old money manager served as the NFL player’s financial adviser for years beginning when the ex-pro…
SEC Charges Man Accused of Running $10M Ponzi Scam Mark Anderson Jones, whom the US Securities and Exchange Commission has charged with fraud, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison in a parallel criminal case. Jones pleaded guilty to running a $10M Ponzi scam. According to the SEC, Jones…
Over the weekend, Yasuna Murakami, a Cambridge-Massachusetts based hedge fund manager, was arrested and charged with wire fraud. Murakami, who managed MC2 Capital Management LLC, is accused of misappropriating investors’ funds in a Ponzi-like scam. The arrest and criminal charges come a few months after the state’s regulator, Secretary of…
In federal court in Sherman, TX, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed an emergency action to halt a $22.7M mortgage investment scam involving Thurman P. Bryant, III and his Bryant United Capital Funding, Inc. According to the regulator’s complaint, Bryant and his firm raised about $22.7M from about…