{"id":5445,"date":"2013-05-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/institutionalinvestorsecuritiesblog.blawgcloud.com\/2013\/05\/sec_sues_traders_over_alleged"},"modified":"2022-03-10T09:14:53","modified_gmt":"2022-03-10T15:14:53","slug":"sec-sues-traders-over-alleged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investorlawyers.com\/blog\/sec-sues-traders-over-alleged\/","title":{"rendered":"SEC Sues Traders Over Alleged Scam Involving Bribe Paid to Venezuelan Official to Get Bond Trading Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

The SEC is suing four traders affiliated with brokerage firm Direct Access Partners for their alleged involvement in a financial scam<\/a> that involved millions of dollars paid in illicit bribes to a Venezuelan banking official to obtain that bank\u2019s bond trading business. <\/p>\n

According to the regulator, DAPs\u2019 global markets group made fixed income trades for clients in foreign sovereign debt, generating revenue of over $66M from markup\/markdown transaction fees on principal trade executions in Venezuela bonds sponsored by the state for BANDES (Banco de Desarrollo Econ\u00f3mico y Social de Venezuela). The bank\u2019s finance VP, Mar\u00eda de los \u00c1ngeles Gonz\u00e1lez de Hernandez is accused of allegedly authorizing the illicit trades and receiving part of the revenue. <\/p>\n

The securities scam <\/a>is said to have taken place between October 2008 and at least June 2010. Because of the purported kickbacks paid to Gonzales, DAP was given the bank\u2019s profitable trading business, while she was provided with incentives to get into trades with DAP at significant markdowns and markups regardless of the prices that BANDES paid. The traders are also accused of fooling DAP\u2019s clearing brokers, inter-positioning one broker-dealer to cover up their involvement in the transactions, performing internal wash trades, and taking part in huge roundup trades to bulk up revenue.<\/p>\n

Per the Commission regarding the trades: Thomas Bethancourt executed the trades that were fraudulent and kept track of the illicit markdowns\/markups; Iuri Bethancourt was given over $20M in illicit proceeds through his shell company, which would pay Gonzales; Hurtado, who allegedly earned over $6M in kickbacks, was the one who paid Gonzales and acted as her intermediary with the traders; and Hurtado\u2019s wife, Haydee Pabon, purportedly was given about $8M in markdowns\/markups on BANDES trades under the guise of finders\u2019 fees.<\/p>\n


\nRead the Complaint <\/a>(PDF)<\/p>\n


\nMore Blog Posts:<\/strong>
\nSEC Commissioner Aguilar Calls For the Abolishment of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements<\/a>, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, April 21, 2013<\/p>\n

Federal Records Act Lawsuit Seeking to Make the SEC Reconstruct About 9,000 Enforcement-Related Documents is Dismissed, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, February 5, 2013 <\/p>\n

Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The SEC is suing four traders affiliated with brokerage firm Direct Access Partners for their alleged involvement in a financial scam that involved millions of dollars paid in illicit bribes to a Venezuelan banking official to obtain that bank\u2019s bond trading business. According to the regulator, DAPs\u2019 global markets group made fixed income trades for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3760,3761],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sec-enforcement","category-securities-and-exchange-commis"],"yoast_head":"\nSEC Sues Traders Over Alleged Scam Involving Bribe Paid to Venezuelan Official to Get Bond Trading Business — Investor Lawyers Blog — May 15, 2013<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The SEC is suing four traders affiliated with brokerage firm Direct Access Partners for their alleged involvement in a financial scam that involved — May 15, 2013\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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