Equity Investing Archives - Investor News

TradeStation Crypto Charged for Unregistered Offer and Sale of Crypto Asset Lending Product

Editor — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 19:38:46 +0000

Florida-based company agrees to settle charge concerning interest feature on crypto asset accounts

Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against TradeStation Crypto, Inc., based in Plantation, Florida, for failing to register the offer and sale of a crypto lending product that allowed U.S. investors to deposit or purchase crypto assets in a TradeStation account in exchange for the company’s promise to pay interest. To settle the SEC’s charges, TradeStation agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty.

According to the SEC’s order, TradeStation began to offer and sell the crypto lending product with the interest feature around August 2020. TradeStation marketed the interest feature as a way for investors to earn interest and “Put your crypto assets to work for you,” and TradeStation had complete discretion over how to deploy the assets to generate revenue to pay interest to investors. The order finds TradeStation offered and sold the crypto lending product with the interest feature as a security, and, since it did not qualify for a registration exemption, TradeStation was required to register its offer and sale but failed to do so.

According to the SEC’s order, on June 30, 2022, TradeStation voluntarily stopped offering and selling the interest feature to investors. TradeStation announced earlier this year that it intends to terminate all its crypto-related products and services in the U.S. market on February 22, 2024.

“The SEC charged TradeStation with failure to register its crypto lending product before offering it to investors. This case highlights the importance of ensuring that investors benefit from the disclosure requirements provided by the federal securities laws, regardless of the label applied to the offering,” said Stacy Bogert, Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.

Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, in addition to the civil penalty, TradeStation agreed to a cease-and-desist order prohibiting it from violating the registration provisions of the Securities Act of 1933. In parallel actions announced today, TradeStation agreed to pay an additional $1.5 million in fines to settle similar charges by state regulatory authorities.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Kevin Hayne and Ashley Sprague, under the supervision of Pei Y. Chung and Ms. Bogert. The SEC appreciates the assistance of members of the North American Securities Administrators Association.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has previously issued an Investor Bulletin on Crypto Asset Interest-bearing Accounts. Investors can find additional information about crypto assets at Investor.gov.

###

Press release by SEC.

Featured image: by EthereumClassic.

The post TradeStation Crypto Charged for Unregistered Offer and Sale of Crypto Asset Lending Product appeared first on Investor News.

Four Long Island men charged with $2M “free-riding” scheme

Editor — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 04:24:12 +0000

Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced fraud charges against Eduardo Hernandez, Christopher Flagg, Daquan Lloyd, and Corey Ortiz, all currently or formerly of Long Island, New York, for perpetrating a multi-year “free-riding” scheme that generated more than $2 million in illicit profits.

The SEC alleges that, from approximately November 2018 through January 2022, the defendants opened brokerage accounts (the victim accounts) that provided the defendants an instant deposit credit once the defendants initiated a transfer of funds to those accounts from related bank accounts, but before the fund transfer was completed. The complaint alleges that, during this short window of time between initiating the transfer and when the bank funds reached the victim accounts, the defendants took advantage of the instant deposit credit feature to purchase illiquid securities from other brokerage accounts that they controlled, for prices at which no rational investor would have purchased them, thereby generating profits in the other brokerage accounts. Later, usually on the same day, the defendants caused those other brokerage accounts to repurchase the same securities from the victim accounts at or near the much lower market price, thereby closing out the positions and leaving the victim accounts with trading losses close to the amount of the instant deposit credits extended to the victim accounts. The defendants then allegedly directed that the victim accounts be abandoned, never actually funding those accounts from the bank accounts. The complaint alleges that, through this scheme in which the defendants controlled both sides of the transactions, they were able to generate guaranteed profits at the victim accounts’ brokerage firm’s expense. All told, during the relevant period, defendants allegedly conducted the fraudulent scheme through at least 600 brokerage accounts.

“As alleged, the SEC uncovered that the defendants sought to enrich themselves by placing losing trades in hundreds of unfunded brokerage accounts that they later abandoned, leaving the brokerage firm to bear the cost,” said Joseph Sansone, Chief of the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit. “This fraudulent conduct undermines the integrity of our markets, and the SEC will continue to use data analysis to identify those who perpetrate these complex schemes and hold them accountable.”

The SEC’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charges Hernandez and Flagg with violating the antifraud provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Ortiz and Lloyd with aiding and abetting those violations. The SEC also seeks permanent injunctive relief, conduct-based injunctions, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York today announced parallel criminal charges.

The SEC’s ongoing investigation is being conducted by Cynthia Matthews, David Austin, Matthew Lambert, John Marino, Pat McCluskey, and Lindsay Moilanen of the New York Regional Office and the SEC Enforcement Division’s Market Abuse Unit and is being supervised by Mr. Sansone. The SEC’s Office of Market Intelligence provided assistance. The SEC’s litigation will be conducted by Ms. Matthews and Christopher Dunnigan. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the FBI.

###

Press release by SEC.

The post Four Long Island men charged with $2M “free-riding” scheme appeared first on Investor News.

CA resident charged with multimillion dollar ponzi scheme

Editor — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 03:27:04 +0000

Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Richmond, California resident Tilila Walker Sumchai with raising approximately $11.8 million from more than 1,000 investors through a fraudulent securities offering targeting members of the Tongan American community across the United States.

According to the SEC’s complaint, from approximately January 2021 through October 2021, Sumchai convinced retail investors to acquire shares of an investment she created called “Tongi Tupe” by falsely claiming that she would use a secret algorithm to generate guaranteed high returns. The complaint alleges that Sumchai first targeted respected Tongan American leaders, who were paid substantial returns on their investments, which convinced many of the leaders to believe that Tongi Tupe was legitimate. Sumchai then organized meetings hosted by these leaders at which Sumchai promoted Tongi Tupe to other members of the Tongan American community. As alleged, Sumchai promised exceedingly high returns, including a $146,000 return in 16 weeks on a $3,000 investment. In reality, the complaint alleges, Tongi Tupe did not generate any returns; instead, Sumchai operated a Ponzi scheme that relied on new investor money to pay earlier investors. Additionally, as alleged in the complaint, Sumchai used investor money for unauthorized and undisclosed purposes, including to pay for casino trips, travel, and shopping.

“As we allege in our complaint, Sumchai sought to enrich herself by exploiting retail investors within the Tongan American community,” said Monique C. Winkler, Director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office. “The SEC will continue to aggressively pursue affinity frauds, which prey on the trust that members of a close-knit community have in each other.”

The SEC’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, charges Sumchai with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, including a conduct-based injunction, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, a civil penalty, and an officer and director bar.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has issued an Investor Alert with tips on how investors can avoid becoming a victim of an affinity fraud.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Kashya Shei and Ellen Chen and supervised by Jason H. Lee and David Zhou of the San Francisco Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Sheila O’Callaghan and Ms. Shei.

###

Press release by SEC.

Featured image by: Got Credit is marked with CC BY 2.0.

The post CA resident charged with multimillion dollar ponzi scheme appeared first on Investor News.

Former Pfizer Statistician Charged with Insider Trading

Editor — Sun, 02 Jul 2023 14:27:25 +0000

Employee and friend traded ahead of Pfizer’s “game-changer” announcement on the success of its Paxlovid trial

Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced insider trading charges against Amit Dagar, a former Pfizer Inc. employee, and his close friend and business partner, Atul Bhiwapurkar, for trading in advance of the company’s November 5, 2021, announcement that a randomized, double-blind study of its COVID-19 antiviral treatment, Paxlovid, was successful. Following that announcement in which Pfizer’s CEO referred to the news as a “game-changer” in the global efforts to “halt the devastation” of the pandemic, the company’s stock price increased by nearly 11 percent, the largest single-day price move in the stock since 2009.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Dagar was a senior statistical program lead for the Paxlovid drug trial, which began in July 2021 as part of the company’s efforts to address the global health pandemic. On the day before the Paxlovid announcement, the complaint alleges, Dagar learned material, nonpublic information about the success of the trial. Specifically, the SEC alleges that Dagar’s supervisor informed him via chat that “we got the outcome,” there was a “lot of work lined up,” and that there would be a “press release tomorrow,” to which Dagar responded with “oh really” and “kind of exciting.” Several hours after that exchange, Dagar allegedly purchased short term, out-of-the-money Pfizer call options, including options that expired the very next day, and then tipped Bhiwapurkar, who also purchased similar call options in Pfizer. The complaint alleges that Dagar’s and Bhiwapurkar’s trading generated approximately $214,395 and $60,300 respectively in illicit profits, which amounted to one-day investment returns of 2,458 percent and 791 percent.

The case originated from the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit’s Analysis and Detection Center, which uses data analysis tools to detect suspicious trading patterns.

“As alleged in our complaint, Amit Dagar misused his access to confidential clinical trial results to enrich himself and his friend, Atul Bhiwapurkar,” said Joseph Sansone, Chief of the Market Abuse Unit. “Dagar and Bhiwapurkar allegedly leveraged this information by trading out-of-the-money call options to generate massive one-day returns. Thanks to our surveillance, the defendants must now face the consequences of their greed.”

The SEC’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges Dagar and Bhiwapurkar with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5 thereunder and seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York today announced criminal charges against Dagar and Bhiwapurkar.

The SEC’s investigation, which is ongoing, is being conducted by Market Abuse Unit staff member Colby Steele, with the assistance of Patrick McCluskey of the Market Abuse Unit’s Analysis and Detection Center, and is being supervised by Paul Kim and Mr. Sansone. The SEC’s litigation will be led by Charlie Divine and Mr. Steele under the supervision of James Connor. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI.

Press Release by SEC.

Featured image: by Travel Aficionado is marked with CC BY-NC 2.0.

The post Former Pfizer Statistician Charged with Insider Trading appeared first on Investor News.

SEC Shuts Down WeedGenics $60 Million Cannabis Offering Fraud

Administrator — Sun, 04 Jun 2023 05:22:16 +0000

Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission obtained an emergency order to halt an alleged ongoing offering fraud and Ponzi-like scheme by Integrated National Resources Inc. (INR), which does business as WeedGenics, and its owners, Rolf Max Hirschmann and Patrick Earl Williams, who have raised more than $60 million from investors to expand their cannabis operations, but have instead used the majority of funds to make $16.2 million in Ponzi-like payments and to enrich themselves.

According to the complaint, since at least June 2019, Hirschmann and Williams have promised investors they would use raised funds to expand WeedGenics facilities, which they guaranteed would produce up to 36 percent returns, but in reality Hirschmann and Williams never owned or operated any facilities—it was all a sham. The complaint alleges that when Hirschmann and Williams received investors’ funds, they transferred the money through multiple accounts to enrich others and for personal use such as entertainment, jewelry, luxury cars, and residential real estate. The complaint further alleges that in an attempt to avoid detection, Hirschmann, acting as the face of the company, used the fake name Max Bergmann the entire time he communicated with investors, while Williams, as Vice President of the company, worked behind the scenes while spending investor funds on his more public career as a rap musician known as “BigRigBaby.”

“Rolf Hirschmann and Patrick Williams allegedly had no real company, no product, and no business, yet despite this, they promised investors everything and then delivered nothing,” said Michele Wein Layne, Director of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office. “This action demonstrates that, despite the defendants’ extensive efforts to avoid detection, the SEC has the ability to uncover fraud to protect investors.”

The court granted the SEC emergency relief against INR, Hirschmann, Williams, and several relief defendants, including a temporary restraining order, an order freezing their assets, and appointment of a temporary receiver over INR and the entity relief defendants. A hearing is scheduled for June 2, 2023 to consider whether to issue a preliminary injunction and appoint a permanent receiver.

The SEC’s complaint charges the defendants with violating the antifraud provisions of the securities laws and seeks permanent injunctions, conduct-based injunctions, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and officer and director bars. The SEC also seeks disgorgement with prejudgment interest from the named relief defendants.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy encourages investors to review the Investor Alert on Frauds Targeting Main Street Investors, and to access the investor protection resources at Investor.gov.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Christopher A. Nowlin and Stephen Bucci and supervised by Finola H. Manvelian of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Daniel S. Lim and supervised by Gary Y. Leung.

###

Press release by the SEC.

Featured image: by Got Credit is marked with CC BY 2.0.

The post SEC Shuts Down WeedGenics $60 Million Cannabis Offering Fraud appeared first on Investor News.

Former Coinbase Manager and His Brother Agree to Settle Insider Trading Charges Relating to Crypto Asset Securities

Editor — Wed, 31 May 2023 03:05:16 +0000

Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi and his brother, Nikhil Wahi, agreed to settle charges that they engaged in insider trading through a scheme to trade ahead of multiple announcements regarding at least nine crypto asset securities that would be made available for trading on the Coinbase platform. Ishan and Nikhil Wahi each agreed to be permanently enjoined from violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 and to pay disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, plus prejudgment interest. As is often the case when a criminal court has already ordered defendants to forfeit their ill-gotten gains, the disgorgement and prejudgment interest in the SEC’s case would be deemed satisfied by the orders of forfeiture of the Wahi brothers’ assets in the criminal action, if approved by the court, and the SEC determined not to seek civil penalties in light of the Wahi brothers’ prison sentences.

The SEC’s complaint, filed on July 21, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleged that, while employed at Coinbase, Ishan Wahi helped to coordinate the platform’s public listing announcements that included what crypto assets would be made available for trading. According to the complaint, Coinbase treated such information as confidential and warned its employees not to trade on the basis of, or tip others with, that information. However, from at least June 2021 to April 2022, in breach of his duties, Ishan repeatedly tipped the timing and content of upcoming listing announcements to his brother, Nikhil Wahi, and his friend, Sameer Ramani. Ahead of those announcements, which usually resulted in an increase in the assets’ prices, Nikhil Wahi and Ramani allegedly purchased at least 25 crypto assets, at least nine of which were securities, and then typically sold them shortly after the announcements for a profit. The Wahi brothers agreed, as part of the settlement, not to deny the SEC’s allegations.

“While the technologies at issue in this case may be new, the conduct is not. We allege that Ishan and Nikhil Wahi, respectively, tipped and traded securities based on material nonpublic information, and that’s insider trading, pure and simple,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “The federal securities laws do not exempt crypto asset securities from the prohibition against insider trading, nor does the SEC. I am grateful to the SEC staff for successfully working to resolve this matter.”

Subject to court approval, Ishan and Nikhil Wahi consented to the entry of final judgments that permanently enjoin them from violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. In the criminal action, Ishan and Nikhil Wahi pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Ishan Wahi was sentenced to 24 months in prison and ordered to forfeit 10.97 ether and 9,440 Tether, and Nikhil was sentenced to 10 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $892,500.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Michael Brennan, Jennie B. Krasner, and Gregory Padgett, with assistance from Patrick McCluskey, Sejal Bhakta, and Donald Battle. The case was supervised by Paul Kim, Joseph Sansone, and Carolyn M. Welshhans. The litigation is led by Daniel Maher and Peter Lallas and supervised by Olivia Choe. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI.

###

Press release published by the SEC.

The post Former Coinbase Manager and His Brother Agree to Settle Insider Trading Charges Relating to Crypto Asset Securities appeared first on Investor News.

HSBC and Scotia Capital Charged with Widespread Recordkeeping Failures

Editor — Sun, 14 May 2023 21:59:00 +0000

Firms admit to wrongdoing and agree to pay penalties in SEC’s ongoing recordkeeping initiative

Washington D.C., — The Securities and Exchange Commission this week charged HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. and Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. for widespread and longstanding failures by both firms and their employees to maintain and preserve electronic communications. To settle the charges, HSBC and Scotia acknowledged that their conduct violated recordkeeping provisions of the federal securities laws and agreed to pay penalties of $15 million and $7.5 million, respectively.

The SEC’s investigation of HSBC Securities and Scotia Capital, both registered broker dealers, uncovered pervasive and longstanding use of off-channel communications at both firms. As described in the SEC’s orders, the firms admitted that their employees often communicated “off-channel” about securities business matters on their personal devices, using messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp. Neither firm maintained or preserved the substantial majority of these communications, in violation of the federal securities laws. The failings involved employees at multiple levels of authority, including supervisors and senior executives. Both HSBC Securities and Scotia Capital cooperated with the SEC’s investigation by, among other things, self-reporting the recordkeeping failures after gathering communications from the personal devices of a sample of the firms’ personnel.

“Today’s actions should not only remind firms of the importance of following SEC recordkeeping requirements, but also the value of disclosing violations when they do occur,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “Both HSBC and Scotia Capital self-reported and self-remediated their recordkeeping violations, and the reduced penalties in these cases reflect their efforts and cooperation. As we continue our efforts to ensure compliance with the Commission’s essential recordkeeping requirements, we encourage other firms to take note and likewise self-report.”

Both firms were charged with violating certain recordkeeping provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and with failing to reasonably supervise with a view to preventing and detecting those violations. In addition to the financial penalties, each firm was ordered to cease and desist from committing violations of the relevant recordkeeping provisions and was censured. The firms also agreed to retain compliance consultants to, among other things, conduct comprehensive reviews of their policies and procedures relating to the retention of electronic communications found on personal devices and their respective frameworks for addressing non-compliance by their employees with those policies and procedures.

Separately, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced settlements with the firms for related conduct.

The SEC’s investigation, which is ongoing, is being conducted by Zachary Sturges and Alison R. Levine. The case is being supervised by Thomas P. Smith Jr. and Osman Nawaz.

###

Press release by the SEC.

Featured image: by Crypto360 is marked with CC BY 2.0.

The post HSBC and Scotia Capital Charged with Widespread Recordkeeping Failures appeared first on Investor News.

SEC Alleges Son and Father-in-Law Touted Faith to Target Church Members in $20 Million Offering Fraud

Editor — Wed, 03 May 2023 03:09:59 +0000

Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Brett M. Bartlett, his father-in-law Scott A. Miller, and their companies for fraudulent securities offerings that raised at least $20.5 million, some of which Bartlett and Miller misused for personal expenses.

According to the SEC’s complaint, from at least June 2018 to May 2020, Bartlett and Miller raised funds from more than 1,000 investors nationwide by selling promissory notes, stock, and fraudulent gold contracts through their companies, Dynasty Toys Inc., The 7M eGroup Corp., Concept Management Company LLC, and Dynasty Inc. As the complaint alleges, when soliciting investors, many of them from a large church in central Illinois, Bartlett frequently invoked his Christian faith and attributed his alleged success to divine intervention to win investor trust. The complaint further alleges that, to stave off demand for cash payouts from their unsuccessful business ventures, Bartlett and Miller misled investors, made more than $11 million in Ponzi-like payments, and sent to investors $21 million in bad checks that bounced due to insufficient funds. In addition, Bartlett and Miller misappropriated more than $1.2 million for personal use, including vacations, entertainment, and payments for a luxury rental home.

“As we allege in our complaint, Bartlett and Miller preyed on church members, and while the two proclaimed their faith, they practiced lies and deception,” said Michele Wein Layne, Director of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office. “This action demonstrates our continued commitment to protecting retail investors, including victims of affinity fraud.”

The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in the Central District of California, charges the defendants with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The complaint also charges the defendants, with the exception of 7Me, with violating the registration provisions of the Securities Act. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, including conduct-based injunctions, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and officer and director bars.

In a parallel investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois announced criminal charges against Bartlett, 7Me, and Dynasty Toys. Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy and the Division of Enforcement’s Retail Strategy Task Force have issued an Investor Alert with tips on how investors can avoid becoming a victim of an affinity fraud.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Colleen M. Keating and Maria Rodriguez and supervised by Finola H. Manvelian of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Ruth Pinkel and supervised by Gary Leung. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Springfield Field Office, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General.

Press release published by the SEC.

The post SEC Alleges Son and Father-in-Law Touted Faith to Target Church Members in $20 Million Offering Fraud appeared first on Investor News.

Chief Information Officer of pharmaceutical company Viatris charged with inside trading

Administrator — Fri, 11 Nov 2022 02:49:13 +0000

SEC Charges Pharmaceutical Co. Chief Information Officer in $8 Million Insider Trading Scheme

Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced insider trading charges against Ramkumar Rayapureddy, Chief Information Officer of pharmaceutical company Viatris Inc., which was formerly known as Mylan N.V.

The SEC’s complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, alleges that, from at least September 2017 through July 2019, Rayapureddy, a resident of Pennsylvania, tipped his friend and former colleague, Dayakar Mallu, material nonpublic information about Mylan’s unannounced drug approval by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, financial results, and an impending merger with a division of Pfizer Inc. The complaint further alleges that Mallu generated gains totaling nearly $8 million and avoided losses by trading Mylan securities based upon Rayapureddy’s tips and shared a portion of his profits with Rayapureddy through cash payments in India. The SEC previously charged Mallu in connection with this investigation.

“As the officer of a public company, Rayapureddy had a duty to safeguard material nonpublic information concerning significant Mylan events, but, as our complaint alleges, he violated this duty by tipping his friend in exchange for cash kickbacks,” said Nicholas P. Grippo, Regional Director of the SEC’s Philadelphia Regional Office. “The SEC remains committed to finding, investigating, and charging public company executives who engage in insider trading.”

The SEC’s complaint charges Rayapureddy with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and seeks a permanent injunction, disgorgement, a civil penalty, and an officer and director bar.

In a parallel action, the Department of Justice’s Fraud Section today announced criminal charges against Rayapureddy.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Christine R. O’Neil, Matthew B. Homberger, and Brian R. Higgins of the Philadelphia Regional Office and John S. Rymas of the Market Abuse Unit. It was supervised by Brendan P. McGlynn, Scott A. Thompson, and Mr. Grippo. The litigation will be led by Christopher R. Kelly and Gregory Bockin. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Options Regulatory Surveillance Authority.

###

Press release by the SEC.

Featured image: by FamZoo is marked with CC BY-SA 2.0.

The post Chief Information Officer of pharmaceutical company Viatris charged with inside trading appeared first on Investor News.

SEC Charges Halal Capital Founder with Multimillion Dollar Fraudulent Scheme That Targeted Muslim Community

Administrator — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 17:49:24 +0000

Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Jebara Igbara, the founder of Halal Capital LLC, in connection with a more than $8 million scheme that targeted investors from the New York metropolitan area’s Muslim community.

According to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in Brooklyn, Igbara (a.k.a. Jay Mazini) started Halal Capital in October 2019 with the goal of sharing his purported investment expertise with members of his Muslim community. As part of his alleged scheme, Igbara offered investors promissory notes that claimed to offer guaranteed, significant returns on investments in Halal Capital. The complaint alleges that Igbara obtained about $8 million from investors and promised to invest the funds in Quran-compliant investments, such as being pooled for the purchase of wholesale goods for resale, including electronics and personal protective equipment (“PPE”). However, Igbara misappropriated all of the investor’s funds to make Ponzi-like payments to Halal Capital investors or for his personal use, including to purchase luxury vehicles and expensive jewelry or to pay off gambling debts.

“As alleged in the complaint, more than a dozen investors in the Muslim community were targeted in this Ponzi-like scheme whose purpose was to enrich the defendant,” said Sheldon Pollock, Associate Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “The Division of Enforcement remains steadfast in pursuing fraud where individuals seek to exploit the trust from fellow members in a community.”

The SEC’s complaint charges Igbara with violations of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. Igbara has consented to the entry of a judgment that imposes a permanent injunction and monetary relief to be determined at a later date. The settlement is subject to court approval.

In a parallel action concerning the same conduct, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York today announced criminal charges against Igbara.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy reminds investors to thoroughly research investments and warns them about making investment decisions based solely on shared affinity. Additional information is available at investor.gov.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Brian A. Kudon and Sandeep Satwalekar, and the litigation is being handled by Messrs. Kudon and Satwalekar. The matter is being supervised by Mr. Pollock. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Internal Revenue Service.

###

Press release by the SEC.

Feature image: by Got Credit is marked with CC BY 2.0.

The post SEC Charges Halal Capital Founder with Multimillion Dollar Fraudulent Scheme That Targeted Muslim Community appeared first on Investor News.