The SEC has gotten emergency order to freeze the assets of James G. “Jay” Temme and Stewardship Fund LP, which he owns. Both are accused of Texas securities fraud, including making false statements to investors that their money was being used to purchase and restructure pools of home mortgages that…
Without denying or admitting to wrongdoing, Banco Espirito Santo S.A. a banking conglomerate based in Portugal, has consented to pay nearly $7M in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties to settle Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that it violated securities transaction, investment adviser, and broker-dealer registration requirements. The bank has…
The SEC is charging Dblaine Capital, LLC and owner David B. Welliver with securities fraud. According to its complaint, Welliver and the investment advisory firm got $4m in loans as a result of a quid pro quo deal that was undisclosed, improper, and violated their responsibilities to the fund. In…
In U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, MF Global Holdings Ltd. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The holding company for broker-dealer MF Global Inc., which faces liquidation, has listed assets of $41 billion and debt of $39.7 billion. This is the fifth-largest financial industry public company bankruptcy when measured according…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed an administrative complaint against the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority accusing one of the latter’s directors of changing three sets of staff meetings minutes that SEC officials had requested. These revisions made the documents, which were delivered in August 2008, incomplete and inaccurate. This…
In re China North East Petroleum Holdings Ltd. Sec. Litig., a shareholder complaint against China North East Petroleum Holdings Ltd., (NEP), has been dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The court found that the plaintiffs had not sustained economic losses because of the…
This week, at least 11 people were charged over a fraud scam that allowed hundreds of Long Island Rail Road workers to falsely claim that they had disabling injuries in order to collect annual pensions. The scam could cost a federal pension agency over $1 billion. Among the defendants are…
Abraham Moses Fisch, a Texas criminal defense attorney, has been arrested and charged with money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy. According to prosecutors, Fisch and Lloyd Glen Williams, who is Houston used car financier, allegedly ran a scam that fooled criminal defendants into thinking…
Boogie Investment Group Inc. has submitted its withdrawal request to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The small broker-dealer is the 20th financial firm that sold Provident Royalties private placements to either leave the brokerage business or announce its intentions to depart. According to Investment News, that’s nearly 40% of independent…
A district court judge has dismissed a securities fraud lawsuit filed by the Employees’ Retirement System of the Government of the Virgin Islands against Morgan Stanley (MS). The investor complaint, submitted in 2009, accused the financial firm of defrauding investors. The pension fund had purchased the notes as part of…