Spotlight

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: On June 22, 2021, Hadari Oshri –Marc Lubaszka’s business partner– filed a frivolous civil harassment restraining order (CHRO) against Investor News reporter Aitana Vargas to stop the publication of her investigative series “A Special Report: The Harrowing Impunity of White-Collar crime,” and any subsequent installments or future media coverage. On August 3, 2021, Vargas filed an...

Wall Street has a new obsession: special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). SPACs are an alternative to the traditional way businesses raise money known as initial public offerings (IPOs). Since January 1, 2021 SPACs have raised over $88 billion, making up 83 percent of public offerings this year and raising more money than they did in all of 2020. As investment banks and professional investors celebrate this booming...

Spouse purchased stock using non-public information about planned merger Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission this week charged Tyler Loudon of Houston, Texas, with insider trading ahead of a February 2023 announcement that London-based oil and gas company BP p.l.c. agreed to acquire TravelCenters of America Inc., a full-service truck stop and travel center company headquartered in Ohio....

United States Attorney Leonard C Boyle, Inspector in Charge Ketty Larco-Ward of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division, and J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, announced that a federal jury in Bridgeport has found three men guilty of offenses related to their participation in lottery and romance scams that defrauded primarily elderly victims across...

SPACs Are All the Rage, but These Private-Equity-Like Vehicles Are Complicated. Here’s What You Need to Know. “Bet on me” is essentially the pitch that backers of blank-check companies known as special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, make to investors. While that’s usually not enough to persuade seasoned investors to part with their money, it has worked like a charm in...

Harmed Investors to Receive Amounts Recovered Washington D.C., — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that registered investment adviser City National Rochdale, LLC (CNR) has agreed to pay more than $30 million to settle charges that its undisclosed conflicts of interest defrauded current and prospective clients. The money CNR pays will be placed into an SEC Fair Fund for...

MIAMI — Daniela Rendon, 31, of Miami made her appearance in federal magistrate court today and was charged with fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief loans and grants under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Relief Program. According to the indictment, Rendon submitted fraudulent applications seeking COVID-19 relief funds from the Small Business Administration and PPP. She is...

Bumble Raises $2.15 Billion in IPO at $7 Billion Post-Money Valuation Bumble Inc, a dating app operator backed by buyout firm Blackstone Group Inc, sold shares in its initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday at $43 apiece above its target range, to raise $2.2 billion. The IPO gave the Austin, Texas-based company a market capitalization of more than $7 billion. Bumble...

San Diego (CA) – Two defendants charged in a nationwide “grandparent scam” have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Jack Owuor, 25, of Paramount, California pleaded guilty in federal court today. Timothy Ingram, 29, of North Hollywood, California, pleaded guilty on March 2, 2022. According to court documents, the defendants were members and...

Washington D.C. — The Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation will host the Securities and Exchange Commission’s 41st Annual Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation over four virtual sessions April 4-7 from 1:00-2-30pm ET. Each day will focus on a different topic and feature speakers with in-depth knowledge of the issues facing small businesses across...