Bank of America Corp. (BAC) has agreed to pay $150 million, in addition to $1 million in disgorgement, to settle the Securities and Exchange Commission’s charges over the investment bank’s proxy-related disclosures regarding the Merrill Lynch acquisition. U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff said he hopes to decide by February…
A jury has convicted Phillip Windom Offill Jr. of Texas securities fraud. The Dallas lawyer and former SEC trial attorney was found guilty of nine counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy for his involvement in a “pump and dump” scam that sold nine companies’ unregistered securities to…
Two ex- JPMorgan Chase & Co. bankers that the Securities and Exchange Commission is suing over their alleged involvement in certain swap transactions are asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama to throw out most of the securities fraud charges that the regulator agency has filed…
According to Advisen Ltd, 910 securities lawsuits were filed in 2009 in the wake of the economic crisis-a 13% increase from the 804 complaints filed in 2008. 239 securities fraud class action lawsuits were filed in 2009-the same number filed in 2008. Advisen reported a 22% increase in the number…
Per the Security and Exchange Commission’s request for emergency relief, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has halted an alleged investment fraud scam involving Results One Financial LLC adviser Steve W. Salutric. He is co-founder of the financial firm. Hon. William J. Hibbler ordered that all…
According to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the Securities and Exchange Commission cannot order former Rauscher Pierce Refsnes Inc. broker Michael Siegel to uphold an award of restitution to investors who sustained financial losses as a result of his alleged broker misconduct. Siegel worked…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of LSF5 Bond Holdings LLC and Lone Star Fund V (U.S.) L.P.’s $60 million securities fraud claims against Barclays Capital Inc. and Barclays Bank PLC. The court noted that Barclays never represented that the mortgage pass-through certificates…
Joseph P. Collins, a former Mayor Brown partner, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in a $2.45 billion investment fraud scheme involving Refco Inc. He had hoped to obtain a more lenient sentence. In July 2009, a jury found Collins guilty of wire fraud and…
The number of Ponzi scams that fell apart increased by nearly four times in 2009, compared to the year, before resulting in over $16.5 billion in investor losses. This figure comes from the Associated Press, which analyzed Ponzi schemes in all US states. Additional findings from the AP analysis: •…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges accusing Austin investment adviser Kurt B. Barton and his two firms, Triton Insurance and Triton Financial, of committing Texas securities fraud and raising over $8.4 million from about 90 investors. Former football stars were used as bait to target former NFL players…