SEC Charges Digital World SPAC for Material Misrepresentations to Investors
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - July 20, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled fraud charges against Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), for making material misrepresentations in forms filed with the SEC as part of DWAC’s initial public offering and proposed merger with Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (TMTG). The Commission finds that DWAC misled investors and the SEC by failing to disclose that...
2023-07-20 4:59 PM EDT
SEC Charges Twice-Convicted Fraudster Eliyahu Weinstein and Five Others with $38 Million Ponzi-Like Scheme to Defraud Investors
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - July 19, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged six individuals with a multi-million dollar Ponzi-like fraud scheme orchestrated by criminal recidivist Eliyahu Weinstein of Lakewood, New Jersey. Along with Weinstein, the SEC charged Aryeh L. Bromberg, Joel L. Wittels, Richard M. Curry, Christopher J. Anderson, and Alaa Mohamed Hattab for their roles in the fraudulent scheme, which involved raising investments to fund purported deals to...
2023-07-19 3:09 PM EDT
SEC Charges Celsius Network Limited and Founder Alex Mashinsky with Fraud and Unregistered Offer and Sale of Securities
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - July 13, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Celsius Network Limited (Celsius) and its founder and former CEO, Alex Mashinsky, for violating registration and anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws, including by failing to register the offers and sales of Celsius’s crypto lending product, the Earn Interest Program; making false and misleading statements to investors of the Earn Interest Program and Celsius’s own crypto...
2023-07-13 11:42 AM EDT
SEC Charges RSE Markets Inc. for Operating an Unregistered Securities Exchange
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against RSE Markets Inc. for operating as an unregistered exchange by maintaining and providing a marketplace and facilities that brought together purchasers and sellers of securities, specifically equity interests in “collectible assets” such as valuable cars and watches. The SEC’s order finds that, between July 1, 2018, and November 20, 2021, RSE operated the Rally...
2023-07-12 3:07 PM EDT
SEC Awards Whistleblower More Than $9 Million
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of more than $9 million to a whistleblower whose significant and detailed information and assistance led to a successful SEC enforcement action. After repeatedly internally reporting the concerns, the whistleblower alerted SEC’s Enforcement Division to the conduct, prompting the opening of the investigation. In addition, the whistleblower provided substantial and ongoing...
2023-07-12 2:23 PM EDT
SEC Proposes Rule Amendments to the Broker-Dealer Customer Protection Rule
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today proposed amendments to Rule 15c3-3 (the Customer Protection Rule) to require certain broker-dealers to increase the frequency with which they perform computations of the net cash they owe to customers and other broker-dealers (known as PAB account holders) from weekly to daily. Net cash owed to customers and PAB account holders must be held in a special reserve bank account. “I am pleased to...
2023-07-12 12:34 PM EDT
SEC Adopts Money Market Fund Reforms and Amendments to Form PF Reporting Requirements for Large Liquidity Fund Advisers
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted amendments to certain rules that govern money market funds under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The amendments will increase minimum liquidity requirements for money market funds to provide a more substantial liquidity buffer in the event of rapid redemptions. The amendments will also remove provisions in the current rule that permit a money market fund to suspend redemptions...
2023-07-12 12:04 PM EDT
SEC Charges Merrill Lynch and Parent Company for Failing to File Suspicious Activity Reports
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - July 11, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and its parent company BAC North America Holding Co. (BACNAH) for failing to file hundreds of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) from 2009 to late 2019. Merrill Lynch agreed to pay a $6 million penalty to settle the SEC charges and, in a parallel action, Merrill Lynch agreed to pay a separate $6 million fine to settle...
2023-07-11 12:30 PM EDT
SEC Charges Former Army Financial Counselor Who Defrauded Gold Star Family Members
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged former U.S. Army financial counselor Caz L. Craffy for defrauding Gold Star family members and others by engaging in unauthorized trading—including of life insurance and family survivor benefits they received following the death of an active duty service member—and for recommending excessive trades and higher risk strategies that did not match customers’ investment profiles. According to...
2023-07-07 11:13 AM EDT
SEC Charges "Smart" Window Manufacturer, View Inc., with Failing to Disclose $28 Million Liability
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - July 3, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against a California-based manufacturer of “smart” windows, View Inc., for failing to disclose $28 million in projected warranty-related liabilities to address a particular defect in its windows. The SEC decided not to impose civil penalties against View because the company self-reported the misconduct to the SEC, promptly undertook remedial measures, and cooperated with...
2023-07-03 9:10 AM EDT
SEC Charges Two Oregon Residents and Their Related Entities with $10 Million Ponzi-Like Scheme
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - June 30, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Oregon residents Robert D. Christensen and Anthony M. Matic, as well as several companies they controlled, with conducting a multi-year Ponzi-like scheme and misleading investors who purchased more than $10 million in promissory notes. According to the SEC’s complaint, from at least January 2018 through September 2022, Christensen and Matic used four entities that they founded – Foresee...
2023-06-30 1:33 PM EDT
SEC Charges Stockbroker and Friend with Insider Trading
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced insider trading charges against Jordan Meadow, a registered representative for a New York-based broker-dealer, and Steven Teixeira, the Chief Compliance Officer of an international payment processing company, in connection with their trading based on material nonpublic information that Teixeira obtained from his girlfriend’s laptop while she was working at home during the COVID-19...
2023-06-29 1:25 PM EDT
SEC Charges Police Chief, Four Others in Connection with Insider Trading Before Pharmaceutical Merger
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed insider trading charges against five individuals, including a police chief in Dighton, Massachusetts, arising from trading before the announcement of a tender offer by Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. to acquire Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc. in May 2020. Four of the defendants traded on nonpublic information obtained, directly or indirectly, from the fifth defendant, and realized more than $2.3...
2023-06-29 11:34 AM EDT
SEC Charges Former DWAC Board Member and Others for Insider Trading in DWAC Securities
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed insider trading charges against Bruce Garelick, a former board member of Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC); Michael Shvartsman and his firm Rocket One Capital LLC; and Gerald Shvartsman for trading in advance of DWAC’s October 2021 announcement that it had reached an agreement to acquire Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (TMTG)....
2023-06-29 11:27 AM EDT
SEC Charges Former Pfizer Statistician with Insider Trading Ahead of COVID-19 Announcement
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today 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...
2023-06-29 11:22 AM EDT
SEC Charges Former MusclePharm Executives with Accounting and Disclosure Fraud
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - June 27, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed a settled complaint charging Las Vegas-based nutritional supplement company MusclePharm Corp.’s former Executive Vice President of Sales and Operations, Brian H. Casutto, former Vice President of Sales, Matthew J. Zucco, and former contract Chief Financial Officer, Kevin R. Harris, for engaging in improper revenue recognition practices to achieve revenue growth demanded by its former Chief...
2023-06-27 7:11 PM EDT
SEC Charges Florida Resident for Operating $112 Million Ponzi Scheme that Targeted Haitian-American Community
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - June 26, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Broward County, Florida resident Sanjay Singh and his trucking and logistics company, Royal Bengal Logistics Inc., with fraudulently raising approximately $112 million from as many as 1,500 investors through an unregistered securities offering that primarily targeted Haitian-Americans. The SEC’s complaint alleges that, from at least 2019 through 2023, Singh, through...
2023-06-26 4:22 PM EDT
SEC Charges Convicted Fraudster in Real Estate Ponzi Scheme
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - June 23, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Wilson Baston with defrauding numerous investors in a Ponzi scheme, in which he raised millions of dollars through dozens of transactions purportedly to fund real estate investments, but frequently used the money to instead pay off earlier investors and for personal expenses. In 2008, Baston pleaded guilty to deceiving hundreds of investors in a Ponzi scheme. According to the SEC’s...
2023-06-23 3:37 PM EDT
SEC Charges Investment Fund Founder William K. Ichioka with $25 Million Offering Fraud
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - June 22, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged William K. Ichioka, of New York, New York, with fraudulently raising $25 million from individual investors primarily in California and Oregon by making false claims about his investing success and promising large anticipated returns but instead using investor funds for gambling and to enrich himself. Ichioka has agreed to resolve the charges against him. According to the SEC’s complaint,...
2023-06-22 4:58 PM EDT
SEC Investor Advisory Committee to Discuss Private Funds and Outbound Investments to Countries of Concern, Digital Engagement Practices, and Audit Committee Workloads at June 22nd Meeting
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - June 21, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee will hold a virtual public meeting on June 22 at 10:00 a.m. ET. The meeting will be webcast on the SEC website. The committee will host three panels to discuss: Private Funds/Markets and Outbound Investments in Countries of Concern; Ensuring Digital Engagement Practices Responsibly Expand Investment Opportunities; and Audit Committee Workload and Transparency. The full...
2023-06-21 6:04 PM EDT